


Darkness Keeps Chasing Me

by Arithese



Category: Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Bruises, Bullying, Childhood Trauma, Family Feels, Gen, Hospital, Hypothermia, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Neglect, Rescue, Running Away, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-03-01 05:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18793504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithese/pseuds/Arithese
Summary: Billy knew he was home, but that doesn't mean he was suddenly sure about his place in the Vasquez family. After getting into a fight with the Breyer brothers again, he fears they want to get rid of him, and he runs away before they can.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first multi-chaptered story in this fandom. I'm so obsessed with this movie, I can't.

“You should’ve seen the look on his face, it was so awesome. The guy was so surprised to see Superman coming out of the sky to catch _him_. I mean he was just a petty thief and then suddenly-” Freddy rambled, but Billy didn’t really pay attention to _what_ Freddy was talking about right now.

Billy just smiled, never admitting how much he appreciated Freddy being with him.

His ramblings showed him that people wanted him around, that someone liked him enough to be so excited around him, ramble so much about something he was passionate about. So even if Billy wasn’t as passionate about all the superhero stuff, as ironic as that sounded, he listened with a smile on his face.

“Hey losers!” _Of course it had to be ruined_. Both Billy and Freddy turn around, and Billy stiffens at the sight of the two bullies. The same bullies who had picked on Freddy the first day in this home, now just 2 weeks ago, and the same bullies who owned the car that he destroyed as Shazam.

“You think we would just let you go now you’re friends with some hero?” The ginger haired one spat, pushing Freddy back against the lockers. He stumbled, crutch falling onto the ground.

“Hey!” Billy shouted, but the other bully grabbed the front of his shirt, pushing him back against the lockers as well. Billy grunted lowly, head slamming back against the lockers.

“We told you we know where you go to school.” The curly haired bully said, a glare on his face.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, remember that we know two superheroes?” Freddy tries, but Billy could hear a hint of nervousness in his voice. The red headed boy, Burke, chuckles, and it only made Billy’s stomach turn.

“And where are they now?” He asks, faking curiosity.

“He can be here in any moment, he might even be closer than you think.” Freddy tries to laugh off, but his voice stutters slightly. They both knew that Billy couldn’t just transform right now, and he definitely couldn’t hide from the bullies right now to transform somewhere else where they couldn’t see him.

Burke barks out a laugh, glancing at Brett, who slammed Billy against the locker again.

“What did you do to get him at school Freddy? Did you go crying to the make a wish foundation or something?” Brett sneers, before he smiles maliciously. “Did you go on your knees for Superman?” _And it was clear that he didn’t mean praying_.

Burke snickers, kicking Freddy’s bad leg. “He can’t even get on his knees.” The younger boy let’s out a shout of pain, almost crumbling to the ground if it weren’t for Burke holding him up by his shirt. Billy shouts, struggling out of the hold but Brett was way stronger and before he could even comprehend what he was doing, he struck out.

Brett’s head snapped to the side, and he released Billy as he stumbled.

Billy whirled around to help Freddy, but something hit him square in the face. The boy cried out, stumbling back. The pain didn’t even register just yet, but the blow made him cry out and his eyes water.

“You’ll regret that you fucking brat!” The voice behind him yelled and he felt hands grab his shoulders.

“Get off!” Billy yelled, and for a second his eyes locked with Freddy’s. And he hoped the younger boy understood what he was _trying_ to communicate silently. _Go, get away from here._ It wasn’t _I can handle myself_ anymore. All he wanted right now was to make sure that Freddy was okay.

He didn’t even have a chance to wait for Freddy’s answer before he was suddenly thrown into the lockers. _Where the hell where any of the teachers?!_ He slid to the ground, groaning pitifully. He tried to get up, and a quick kick to his stomach made him grumble to the cold floor again.

“Do you know how pissed our father was at the car? The car _your_ friend destroyed?” Brett hisses above him, kicking him again. Billy whimpered, trying to curl up around himself to protect his organs. _Shit, he knew messing with that car would cause him problems, and yet he still did._

 _He knew meeting Freddy as his superhero self would cause him problems, but he did it to make Freddy happy, he would do anything to make his brother happy. But he should’ve known, should’ve realised that it would turn out bad._ Another kick to his stomach, but his arms took the brunt of the attack.

 _He just thought that it would lead to someone finding out about his secret identity, not using him as revenge for the ‘other’ guy breaking the car_.

“Hold his arms.” Brett orders, and Billy could feel panic run through him.

“No!” He shouts, but he can feel hands wrap around his wrist, pinning them down above his head. Billy growls, kicking out, and hitting Brett in the knee. The curly haired boy shouts in pain, stumbling back and holding his knee. Billy doesn’t let up, and doesn’t wait, twisting on the ground and ripping his hands back.

He scrambles to his feet, bolting away from the bullies but he didn’t get far. Before he could even get out of the empty hallways, thanks to detention he had already gotten earlier, as he suddenly felt his legs disappear from under him. He yells, eyes going wide as the floor quickly neared him.

He landed with a loud oof, feeling his entire body rattle. It didn’t even hurt, but he also didn’t have time to register the _lack_ of pain. A strong boot landed in his stomach again before he was forcefully turned around. He tried to scramble back but a strong weight landed on his stomach.

Brett quickly wrested his arms under his knees, before he struck out.

The fist landed on his face, snapping it to the side. His vision exploded in stars, and his mind swirled. He could just feel more blows hit his face, his chest, knees pushing down on his arms painfully. He could feel himself pulling away, trying to throw the weight off, but he wasn’t successful.

“BRETT!” Someone shouted, but Billy’s mind swirled too much to truly comprehend it. His ears rushed, roaring as blood was pumped through him from the adrenaline. Then suddenly the attacks just _stopped_ , he gasps, flopping onto his side and curling up into himself even if he was safe.

“Billy!” He could hear Freddy shout, before a cane clattered to the ground next to him and Freddy clumsily lowers himself. “I got help like you asked, I didn’t know if you asked but I couldn’t do anything but I couldn’t just let you get beat up. I just…” Freddy stops himself, which was already unsettling in itself.

Billy pulls in a breath through gritted teeth, not feeling like opening his eyes.

Pain courses through his system, mostly from his face and his stomach area. But the weight was finally gone, and he could breathe normally again. As much as he had only wanted Freddy to be safe just a few minutes ago, he was so glad that his brother had come back with help right now.

“What the hell where you guys thinking!” A deep voice boomed. “You are in so much trouble, my office, NOW!” There wasn’t even a hint of complaints from the two boys, and Billy could hear them leaving. But all he could focus on were the footsteps steadily approaching before someone crouched down next to him.

“Billy can you hear me?” He recognised the voice, it was his history teacher. Billy blinked his eyes open, vision blurry. The teacher, Mister Andrews, looks down at him with a concerned expression. “Is it okay if I help you to the nurse, you don’t look so good.” Billy wants to huff at the sentence, but decides against.

So he just nods shakily, glancing at Freddy. His brother was looking at him with worry on his face, for once not knowing what to say or how to make the situation any better. So he says nothing as Mister Andrews reaches down and just picks Billy up altogether without a lot of effort.

Billy lets out a squeak of surprise, tips of his ears burning but mister Andrews basically ignores him as he glances at Freddy.

“Can you get up?” He asks softly, and Freddy nods hastily, grasping the cane and getting up. It wasn’t a gracious movement but it was clear to Billy that it wasn’t the first time that he had done it.

“I can still walk.” Billy whispers, wincing at the pain it causes him. The teacher initially doesn’t even react besides frowning, making his way over to the nurse.

“I would rather you don’t try.” He responds as he walks into the office. Billy just accepts his defeat.

 

*

*

*

“Mister Andrews?!” Rosa’s voice was filled with worry, running up to the teacher with tears in her eyes and Victor following closely. The teacher holds up a hand as a signal for both of them to calm down. Rosa comes to a halt, creeping closer to Victor and anxiously looking around for their kids.

“How is Billy?” Victor is the one to ask, voice equally worried.

“As you know two bullies beat him up, it was your other son who came to me for help and I helped Billy as soon as I got there. One of the bullies, Brett, was on top of him, hitting his face.”

“Oh my God.” Rosa whispers brokenly, putting her hands over her mouth. Tears jumped into Victor’s eyes, and he hugged his wife closer.

“The nurse looked over him, he has some bruises on his stomach but nothing was broken, and the same goes for his face. We gave him some ibuprofen for the pain, and he’s icing the wounds as we speak.” The teacher continues to explain. “It looks bad, but the nurse says he will be fine.”

“I just want to see him.” Rosa whispers, and Mister Andrews nods, turning around to open the door. Immediately both Billy and Freddy look up from their spot, Billy holding an ice pack to the right side of his face like Mr. Andrews had told them. Rosa gasps, running straight at the boys without thinking.

“Dios mio.” She cries out, wrapping her arms around both of them and forcing them closer in a gentle but firm hug. Billy grunted but allowed Rosa to pull him closer. “I was so worried when the school called.” She says, reluctantly pulling out of the hug so she could look at her boys instead.

Billy lowers his gaze, chewing on his lip, ice pack temporarily disregarded.

“He’ll be okay mom, it looks worse than it is. Really, head wounds tend to bleed a lot, that’s because there are so many tiny blood vessels.” Even Freddy’s usual ramblings were a lot less enthusiastic. Rosa gently grasps Freddy’s chin, tipping it up just slightly to get a better look at him.

“Did they pick on you again?” She whispers, and Freddy nods.

“It’s okay, Billy was there to defend me. Obviously it didn’t turn out to be a success but they didn’t hurt me.” Victor frowns, stepping forwards to sit down next to Freddy. “No seriously guys, it’s fine. Sure they kicked my leg, and it hurt a little but like, but what else is new you know?” Freddy tries to laugh it off.

Rosa smiles sadly, releasing Freddy’s face while Victor wraps a comforting arm around the younger boy’s shoulders. Freddy lets out a shaky breath that he didn’t know he was holding, leaning into the touch until his head was laying on Victor’s shoulder. Rosa glances at Billy, but the boy had his head turned away.

His heart ached for the same comfort, the same comfortable touch, but he couldn’t get himself to ask for it.

Rosa didn’t need that however, she didn’t need his permission to know that he wanted it. But she also knew that the boy was hesitant, was almost scared of anything that even resembled parental behaviour. Hugs, cuddles, kisses, even an appraisal for getting a good grade like a parent would.

It all seemed to scare the boy, or perhaps it was reluctance.

So she carefully reached out, grasping the ice pack from Billy’s hands and gently pressing it against the side of his face again. Billy flinched slightly, but he didn’t dare to let his eyes meet Rosa’s. So he kept them down, hands fidgeting and not daring to pull away from the touch right now.

Rosa sighs softly, but doesn’t comment on Billy’s silence. Instead she glances back at the teachers.

“What’s happening now? I mean did you catch the guys who were hurting my sons?” Rosa spoke, a venom on her voice that she almost managed to hide completely. But every member of the Vasquez could hear the tone in Rosa’s voice. She wanted justice for what happened.

And she certainly wasn’t going to let it go.

“We do, I sent them to the principal’s office but they are not getting away with this.” The teacher speaks, and Rosa nods.

“I would expect nothing less.” Rosa says, eyes flickering to Victor for a moment before turning back. “Can we take our boys home now?” Both Rosa and Mr. Andrews glance at the nurse, who smiles softly.

“Billy will be alright, just keep icing them when you get home, and you might want to watch his head wound. He miraculously doesn’t have a concussion, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be hurting for a while.” The nurse informs them, turning back to rummage through a drawer. “I suggest taking one when you get home, and one before you go to sleep.”

The nurse glances at Billy, but she gives the medicine to Rosa, who quickly puts it away in her purse.

“So we can go?” This time it was Freddy who spoke up, and the nurse nods.

“If you take it easy. You’re lucky it’s Friday but if you are not feeling up to going to school Monday because of your injuries, let your mom call in.” The nurse says, gaze directed at Billy. The younger boy nods slightly but still doesn’t say anything. It was as if he had just.. shut down after the fight.

Freddy frowns, sliding off the cot. Victor hands him his crutch, and Freddy accepts it.

Billy follows carefully, but they could all see him wince as he did. Neither commented on it, and Rosa smiles at the nurse.

“Thank you.” She whispers quickly before hurrying after her family. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there will be more chapters, definitely! I want to update every Saturday, but I will upload an extra chapter on Wednesday if this gets more than 10 comments. (Because I’m impatient and comments are used to feed my cat). Excluding guests that is :D
> 
> Hope you enjoy so far!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw thank you guys for the response!! You guys are so awesome! <3 Here's the extra chapter as promised. Also, next Saturday the update might be a little later or sooner because it's Eurovision final! (Vote for the Netherlands :DDD)

“Oh my God Billy!” Mary exclaims the moment they arrive at home. She immediately runs over to him, but when she tries to put a hand on his bruised cheeks, he flinches away. Mary’s face falls, guilt churning in her stomach all of a sudden. She had _scared_ Billy, she had scared her little brother.

“Give him some space, mi amour.” Rosa whispers, putting a gentle hand on Billy’s back and guiding him to the stairs. Victor and Freddy walk into the house after them, and Mary glances at him.

“You okay?” She asks, calmer than before in fear that she would scare Freddy as well. The younger boy looks up at her, nodding.

“I’m okay, but my leg is on standby for the rest of the evening, which kinda sucks.” Freddy says as Victor helps him over to the couch. Freddy flops down onto the couch, letting out a satisfied sigh when he finally takes the weight off his legs, especially his bad one. Mary glances at Victor, who shrugs slightly.

Mary sighs, walking over to the kitchen quickly to get an ice pack out of the freezer. She grabs a clean towel as well before making her way back to the living room. Victor was tidying up the room, something he usually did when stressed or worried. Mary ignored him for a moment, walking over to the couch.

Freddy glances at her, and Mary hold out the ice pack.

“How did you know?” He asks, but gratefully accepts the ice pack. Mary sighs, grabbing Freddy’s legs and sitting down on the couch and positioning his legs on her lap. She gestures for him to give the ice pack back again, which he does without any complaints or questions.

“Billy comes home with injuries, and your leg is bothering you?” Mary deadpans, wrapping the ice pack in the thin layer of the towel before pressing it again Freddy’s leg. The younger boy winces slightly.

“I could’ve just had a bad day you know?” He says, and Mary looks at him with a raised eyebrow. Freddy sighs, knowing that Mary could see he was lying.

“The Bryer brothers again?” Mary asks, and Freddy nods.

“They were mad about their car, and when Billy hit them the other day.” Freddy says, wincing when something clattered to the ground. Both Mary and Freddy whip their head around to see Victor with a furious expression on his face.

“They did this before?” He asks, voice loud but the anger clearly wasn’t directed at them. Freddy cringes nevertheless, but not because he was afraid of Victor’s anger, but from embarrassment. He didn’t _want_ his dad to find out that the Bryer brothers have been bullying them ever since they started school this year.

“Sometimes.” Freddy squeaks, and Victor’s face softens at the embarrassed look Freddy gives him. He sighs, running a hand over his face before walking over to Freddy, sitting down on the chair next to the couch he was currently on.

“Why didn’t you tell me son?” He asks softly.

“I didn’t _want_ you to know, imagine how that conversation would’ve gone; ‘hey dad I’m being picked on because I’m a crippled kid who can’t shut up’. I’m sure that would’ve earned me a lot of pity points I don’t-” Freddy rattled, and Victor reaches out, grabbing one of Freddy’s hand and causing Freddy to snap his mouth shut.

“It’s a parent’s job to worry,” Victor says. “You could’ve told us Freddy, we don’t pity you because you get bullied, we just worry. You don’t deserve to get picked on.”

“Yeah well in my head I saw that differently.” Freddy frowns, and Victor chuckles despite the situation, rubbing his thumb over Freddy’s hand.

“The first day Billy was here, did he start that fight because of that?” Victor asks.

“Well technically he didn’t _start_ the fight, they had already kicked me a couple of times and they wouldn’t give me back my crutch so Billy kinda hit them with it?” Freddy says, and Victor frowns at that. Neither Billy or Freddy had told them that, and yet, he had still yelled at Billy for getting into those fights.

And all the boy had done was protect his brother from bullies.

“Why didn’t he tell us? I yelled at him for getting into fights.”

“Billy knew Freddy didn’t want you knowing he got bullied, so he took the blame.” Mary filled in, looking down in shame. “With everything that happened at the carnival, and his mom, I never thought to tell you.” Mary adds in a soft voice, a hint of shame lingering. She knew Billy didn’t want her to tell, but she still felt guilty for forgetting.

They hadn’t told Rosa and Victor about their alter egos, or that they had been the ones to defeat the supervillain. Luckily the injuries they got, if they got them at all with how strong their alter egos were, didn’t transfer to their human bodies. That would’ve been difficult to explain to their parents.

So they were left with minor bruises and the memories of what happened. And it also wasn’t uncommon to find themselves having a nightmare, especially Billy seemed to have them.

“You know you can tell us everything right?” Victor asks again, and Mary and Freddy exchange a look for a second, and they didn’t need to speak to know what both of them were thinking about; their superpowers.

“We know dad.” Mary smiles.

*

*

*

Billy lets out a hiss of pain, cringing as he finally sat down. Rosa glances at him with a worried gaze, and he both hated and loved it. He didn’t want her to worry, but he liked that someone finally cared for his wellbeing. It was a strange experience to have someone genuinely care, but welcomed.

“Do you need anything?” Rosa asks softly, crouching down in front of him. Billy turns away from her again, biting his lip and pushing back his tears. Rosa gently reaches out, inspecting his face like she had done 2 weeks ago when he had also come back slightly injured from the fight at the carnival.

They had all just assumed he had gotten hurt as a bystander, and Billy wasn’t about to tell them the villain was after _him_.

Billy shakes his head softly, daring to glance at her. Her brown eyes were filled with nothing but worry, worry for him. She smiles when he meets her eyes, brushing the side of his face with her thumb. Billy almost leans into the touch, closing his eyes for a moment before he pulls away.

Rosa sighs, dropping her hand at the gesture.

“Just give a shout if you need anything okay? I will tell Freddy to stay out of the room for a while.” Rosa says, standing up almost reluctantly. Billy wanted to tell her not to, that he didn’t want to bother Freddy, or any of them even more. And he especially didn’t want to ban Freddy from his own room.

But he couldn’t get himself to talk. For some reason his brain just couldn’t form the right words, the sentences he wanted to say to her. And maybe he didn’t even want to talk to her in the first place. He just wanted her gone, not because he didn’t like or because he didn’t enjoy her company.

But because the more time she spent with him, the sooner she would realise that he was just not worth the trouble.

And he just couldn’t… he couldn’t bear the thought of being kicked out of the first foster home, the first foster family he wanted to stay at. The first family he truly felt like he belonged, that he had found some sort of family. He had always been the one to run away, or purposely get his foster family to kick him out.

He just wanted to find his mom, he didn’t need a fake family to care for him, now… now he knew better, his mom didn’t want him. But it wasn’t just that he had nowhere else to go anymore, he truly liked his new family, as much as he pretended to be fine on his own, he had started to rely on his family more and more.

So the fear of getting kicked out when he wanted to stay…when he didn’t _try_ to get kicked out.. he didn’t even _want_ to think about it.

“Okay honey.” Rosa whispers at the silence, turning around and shutting the door behind her.

*

*

*

“Where is Billy?” Darla whispers softly, a sad look on her face as she glances at the empty chair on her right. Mary’s face falls, reaching out for the little girl across the table and grabbing her hand.

“Billy isn’t feeling well, so he’s not coming.” Mary says, and Rosa just feels her chest swell slightly at the care in her daughter’s voice. It wasn’t something new, but every time she was just reminded how much she cared.

“But isn’t he hungry?” Darla asks, and Rosa smiles sadly at the little girl.

“You’re right Darla, we’ll bring him some food up in a moment okay?” Rosa says, in an attempt to cheer up the little girl. They all knew it was futile to shield her from everything in the world, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t all try. Not just Darla, but also Eugene, and maybe all of them.

So if they could prevent her from seeing Billy in such a state.. they would.

“Can I come?” Darla’s voice was so hopeful, and yet so full of childlike wonder. Rosa can feel herself glancing at Victor, almost hoping he would answer it for her.

“I’m sorry Darla, but I don’t think Billy would appreciate that right now.” She says, almost wishing she could reach her daughter from her seat. “You have to remember that Billy went through some stuff before he got to us.” Darla glances down at her plate for a moment, because she did.

They all knew about Billy’s past. Maybe not in detail, but they knew this wasn’t his first foster home, and they knew that his mom abandoned him when still very young. It wasn’t that hard to make the conclusion that he had gone through a lot of families through the years, and that he had suffered in at least one.

Darla had been lucky enough to have found this family first.. if being abandoned by her parents was lucky to begin with. But Darla had never been given hope, her parents dropped her off themselves, told her they didn’t want her, were fed up with her. She had always accepted her new family.

Mary immediately stepped up as her older sister, and they had all made Darla feel at home in the house, just like she had done with the rest. Even with Freddy, despite the fact that Freddy had been in the home for a few weeks already when Rosa and Victor took her in as a girl.

Darla nodded timidly, and for the first time since 2 weeks, she stayed silent during the dinner

*

*

*

“She finally agreed to go to sleep.” Victor muttered tiredly, rubbing his face and falling down on the chair in the kitchen. Rosa watches her husband with a sad face.

“I feel bad for worrying her so much, maybe I was-”

“Don’t doubt yourself Rosa, you know how Darla can be. Billy needs some space right now.” Victor gently cuts her off, grabbing her hand. “He was resting in Freddy’s bed, I helped him to the top bunk but he still wouldn’t talk. Those boys really did a number on him.” Victor adds with a soft voice.

Rosa looks down at her hand, Victor’s hand wrapped around it. She didn’t even think about the fact that Freddy couldn’t get to the top bunk on his own with his bad leg, or at least not easily. So she was glad to hear that Victor had helped Billy to his own bed once Freddy went to bed.

That was 30 minutes ago already, and apparently that was because Darla had taken such a long time to fall asleep. Rosa knew Victor was with Darla, she could hear him talking to her in the hallway at first, but once they entered her room again, she couldn’t hear either of them anymore.

“I just don’t understand how they could do that to him, or to Freddy.” Rosa whispers, rage pooling up in her stomach. “They have been hurting Freddy for months now, and he never told. And when Billy tried to help, they beat him up.” Her face twists, and her hands itch with the rage she was feeling.

“Billy’s a good kid.” Victor offers, and Rosa snaps her head up.

“I know that Vic.” She says, and Victor sighs.

“I didn’t mean it like that Rosa.” He tells her, and Rosa lets out a broken sob.

“I know Victor, I’m sorry, I just…” She pulls her hand away, standing up from her chair and walking over to the window. “I’m not letting this slide, not this time.”

“It’s going to be hard to do though.” Victor says. “William Bryer is a rich man, who does a lot for the school.” He continues, and it was true. There was a reason the Bryer brothers felt so entitled, and it was all because of their dad’s money, and how they were basically invincible at any school they went to because of it.

Victor stands up as well, walking over to his wife and wrapping an arm around her. Rosa sighs, looking down.

“I know Vic, it’s not fair how you can buy so much with money.”

“We have something better than money,” Victor says. “We have family, and we’ll not abandon our own.” Victor finishes, and Rosa gives him a wry smile.

“You’re right, after all, their mother left because she found an even richer man.” Rosa says, and Victor pretends to look horrified.

“I hope you’re not thinking the same.” Victor says, and Rosa smiles, shaking her head. She glances at him, not taking her eyes off his for a moment.

“No amount of money could convince me to leave you or our kids.” She says, and Victor kisses her hand softly. “But I should make a call tomorrow to the principal to let her know we’re not going to let this slide, we’ll go after William if we have to.”

“We’ll do this together Rosa, as a family.” Victor says. “I don’t care who he is, we’re not going to allow this. We’ll call her together tomorrow and she’ll have to deal with William herself. I don’t even want to see his face.” Rosa nods.

“No wonder the mother left him, I wouldn’t want to be with him either. She did the right thing, he’s an awful human being and I want him as far away from our kids as possible.” Victor hums in agreement.

“Agreed, he may not have hurt our kids directly, that’s on the Bryer kids themselves, but he is responsible. I mean I finally thought Freddy’s leg wasn’t bothering him too much anymore, but I had to give him something for the pain tonight.” Rosa could hear the hurt in Victor’s voice as well.

It didn’t matter that the kids weren’t biologically theirs, they were their kids, and every parent hurt when their kids were hurting.

It didn’t make it any better that Freddy was almost used to the constant pain, if anything, it made it worse.

Rosa groans, leaning back against the counter. “It’s going to be so much work, but I don’t care. He’s dangerous, and he’s indirectly putting Freddy and all our kids in danger with his behaviour.” Rosa says, looking up at Victor with a dark expression. “I want him as far away from our kids as possible.” She finishes, tears in her eyes.

Victor walks over to her, wrapping her in a tight hug. Rosa allows him, burying her face in his shoulder and crying softly.

“It’ll be okay.” Victor whispers in her ear, holding her as she shook against him. “Billy and Freddy will be alright, and the teacher saw them fight, they won’t get away with this.”

“I’m worried about Billy, I don’t know what was wrong with him.” Rosa whispered back, not daring to raise her voice.

“He’ll be alright Rosa, he had a tough childhood, it’s going to take time for him to accept us.”

“I just want to hug him and never let go.” Rosa says, and Victor chuckles, placing both hands on either side of her face and staring into her eyes.

“I know you do, that’s why I love you.” He says, face softening. “But you have to give him time. You remember how reluctant Mary was as well when we just got her.” Rosa smiles, that all seemed so long ago right now. She was just 9 years old when she entered the family, and she had always lived with a borderline neglectful mother.

She had run away when her mother’s boyfriend was threatening to hurt her with a belt, and they had put her in foster care when the authorities ruled them unfit to be parents, even landing them both in jail because of it. Mary had some bruises on her, which was bad, but it could’ve been much worse.

“I remember, they were all hurt by their parents in one way or the other…” Rosa bit her lip. Mary had her neglectful mother, Freddy’s parents were in prison since he was 5 years old, Eugene’s parents died when he was four, Darla had been abandoned by hers, and Pedro’s did as well when he came out of the closet.

But all of them had ended up in their home either the first time or really quickly.

Billy on the other hand has been in the system for 10 years, never allowing himself to accept that this was his life, never allowing someone to care for him, and never allowing himself to accept any of his foster homes. And with the amount of abuse in the foster system, and the way Billy acted..

It was almost a certainty that he had ended up with a couple of bad ones in his past.

“He just needs time, Rosa. We can only give him as much support as he allows us to give.” Victor responds, and Rosa nods, knowing her husband was right, but that didn’t make it any easier.

*

*

*

Victor sipped his coffee, a content smile on his face as he watched Mary torture Darla with tickles, barely giving her any opportunity to catch her breath. The giggled were infectious, and Victor couldn’t help but smile fondly at his kids. Eugene was trying to climb on Mary’s back in the meantime and Pedro was watching silently.

But even from this distance, Victor could see a fond, but tiny, smile on his face as well.

Neither of them had any obligations today, it was Saturday so there was no school, and Victor and Rosa didn’t have work today either. They wanted to do something later, but they didn’t know what yet. It was still basically freezing outside, so they preferably didn’t want to do something outside.

Victor was about to take another sip of his coffee when a loud voice came from upstairs, undoubtedly Rosa. There was another noise, as if something fell to the ground.

“VICTOR!” Rosa’s voice cried out, before Rosa ran downstairs, eyes wide with panic.

“What’s wrong?” Victor immediately responds, coffee long forgotten. The giggles had stopped as well. Rosa’s eyes were filled with tears.

“Billy’s gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I’ve taken the liberty to fill in some gaps from the Bryer brothers, I couldn’t find anything on them except for the fact that they’re rich and brothers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's going to watch Eurovision?! :D  
> I'm going to be an anxious mess for the coming 4 hours, so I'm updating early tonight. Comments will be used to reduce my stress :3

Billy groans in frustration, slapping a hand for his mouth the moment he realises that Freddy was also in the same room. He was silent for a few seconds, but there was no movement from Freddy’s bed below him. Of course there wasn’t, Freddy was a ridiculously deep sleeper Billy had come to realise.

Billy on the other hand wasn’t, which is why he was awake.

Pain coursed through his system, not too bad but still persistent enough to keep him up. It was more annoying than painful. His face throbbed especially hard, and it was driving him insane. Billy sighs, sitting up in his bed and rubbing his face carefully to avoid causing himself even more pain.

Eventually he sighed again, scooting over to the end of the bed, and carefully making his way down the stairs. The same set of stairs that Victor had helped him up not 20 minutes ago or so. Not like he couldn’t do it himself, but because Victor didn’t want to risk him falling down in his current state.

And Billy didn’t have the heart to tell him off either. As much as he wanted them to leave him alone for a moment, he couldn’t help but appreciate the gesture immensely. Maybe… just maybe it meant that they truly cared about him. That they wanted him around, and that they loved him.

He quietly made his way over to the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet before he curses softly under his breath.

There weren’t any painkillers, and the medicine the nurse had given him were still with Rosa. So that only left him one choice, go downstairs again to get them, or risk laying awake the entire night. And as much as he wanted to avoid his family for the evening, he still wanted a good night sleep.

And he had to face his family eventually.

Billy scrunches up his nose slightly, exiting the bathroom and silently creeping down the stairs in fear to wake any of his siblings. He knew Freddy wouldn’t wake, but he didn’t know how fast his siblings would wake up. He could still hear Victor and Rosa talk, which wasn’t surprising.

Victor had just gone downstairs after tucking in Darla for a ridiculously long time… again, his fault.

“We’ll do this together Rosa, as a family.” He could hear Victor say, and he stops in his steps. “I don’t care who he is, we’re not going to allow this. We’ll call her together tomorrow and she’ll have to deal with William herself. I don’t even want to see his face.” Billy can feel himself freeze.

They were… they were talking about him. For some reason hearing his full name hurt him more than it should have. They had always called him Billy, and the only people calling him William were the authorities or someone who didn’t know him yet. But even Rosa and Victor had called him Billy from the start.

 _The fact that they didn’t now just showed how much they hated him_.

Billy sits down, feeling his heart hammer in his chest. _Her_ … that had to have been his social worker. Of course they were just going to call her, they didn’t want to waste anymore time than they had to.

“No wonder the mother left him, I wouldn’t want to be with him either. She did the right thing, he’s an awful human being and I want him as far away from our kids as possible.” Victor hums in agreement. Billy paled even more. tears jumping in his eyes and he let out a sob against his will.

He slapped both hands over his mouth, but it didn’t seem like they had heard him.

“Agreed, he may not have hurt our kids directly, that’s on the Bryer kids themselves, but he is responsible. I mean I finally thought Freddy’s leg wasn’t bothering him too much anymore, but I had to give him something for the pain tonight.” Victor spoke… and as much as Billy wanted to deny it..

He couldn’t.

He was the one to provoke the brothers that day 2 weeks ago, he was the one to abuse his powers as Shazam and break their car. He constantly egged them on with his behaviour. He was the reason why Freddy’s leg was hurting right now. The reason why they kicked him in the first place.

He could hear Rosa groan.

“It’s going to be so much work, but I don’t care. He’s dangerous, and he’s indirectly putting Freddy and all our kids in danger with his behaviour.” Another sob tore from his throat, and he bit tongue. “I want him as far away from our kids as possible.”

There it was… the sentence he had been dreading ever since he had come to the house, the moment when his family was tired of him, couldn’t put up with him anymore, or any other reason why he had been sent away in the past. But then he had wanted to be sent away, he wanted to go.

This time he didn’t.

And despite that, he felt a numbing calmness wash over him. Tears still trailed down his cheek but he numbly stood up, turning around and walking up the stairs. He quietly opened the door, closing it behind him and just… standing there. Not knowing what to do, or where to go next.

He glances at his bag, sniffling and wiping his face with a look of determination. He wasn’t going to sit around.. he wasn’t going to wait to be sent away. He couldn’t handle hearing it, he’d rather go himself than hear it directly from Rosa and Victor that they wanted him out of the house.

So he walks over to his bag, taking out all the stuff that he wouldn’t need anymore, like his school books, and shoving the few clothes in that he had with him when he arrived. He didn’t dare to take more from his family, not after all he had been given, and all they had done for him in the past weeks.

Billy glances at Freddy for a moment, quickly shaking his head. But no, he had to go now. He knew that Freddy wouldn’t just let him go if he was awake… he didn’t know if he could leave if he were. And yet, he couldn’t leave just yet, the room was too high up, and turning to Shazam would wake up Freddy.

And Rosa and Victor were still awake downstairs, and he didn’t dare to alert them.

Bille gnaws at his lips, walking over to the door and sitting down against it. He waits… waiting for Rosa and Victor to finally walk up the stairs to go to bed. And he waits. A yawn escapes his mouth, and he leans against the door with his head, closing his eyes for just a moment.

He was out before he could stop himself.

*

*

*

He jerks awake suddenly, adrenaline suddenly rushing through his system and his eyes widened. Light was pooling into the room, and he was immediately on his feet. Pain runs through his system, and a tiny whimper escapes his throat. But he pushes it down, looking at the clock.

A sense of relief goes through him as he sees the clock on the wall, it wasn’t late yet, barely 7AM. It was a Saturday so no one should be up yet. He glances back at Freddy for a moment, seeing him still sleeping peacefully, unaware of what he was thinking, or what he was about to do.

“I’m sorry Freddy.” Billy whispers, opening the door silently. Not to avoid waking up Freddy, but to avoid waking up the rest of his family. The stairs creaked slightly, but he carefully made his way downstairs. He didn’t dare to look at the house anymore, wanting to just leave immediately but he stopped.

He couldn’t just… could he?

He shook his head, quickly walking over to the table to grab a note. He wrote a short message on it, not finding the motivation to write more than necessary. Just enough to let them know _why_ he wasn’t in his room, or even in the house. And hopefully they would just be grateful he was gone.

_“I want him as far away from our kids as possible.”_

Billy shudders slightly, rubbing at his eyes. “I will Rosa, don’t worry.” He whispers, dropping the pen and walking to the front door. He opened it, walking out without looking back into the house again.

*

*

*

“Morning mi amour.” Rosa smiles tiredly, hugging Darla for a moment. The little girl smiled, hugging her mother back enthusiastically.

“Morning.” She says, and Rosa was relieved to hear how cheery she was again.

“Did you sleep well?” She asks, brushing a few loose strands of hair back. Darla nods.

“I’m okay.” She says, and Rosa pinches her chin for a quick second, standing up again. She walks over to the kitchen, opening the fridge. She glances at the clock for a moment, it was almost 9AM, so the rest of the kids would probably be down quickly for breakfast, something they tried to do together during weekends.

They all knew how hectic the house could be during normal schooldays, trying to get 6 kids ready for school.

Rosa shook her head with a smile, taking a few things out of the fridge she would need. It was a lot of work, and they didn’t always behave perfectly, but she wouldn’t trade her kids for the world. It didn’t matter that they were biologically related, they were hers, and Victor’s, and she happily experienced that chaos.

Especially if it meant giving them all a loving home.

“Good morning to you too.” Victor murmured behind her, and Rosa laughs lightheartedly, turning around.

“Morning sleepy head.” She smiled, and Victor gives her a guilty look.

“It smells delicious.” He says instead, walking over to the counter and putting an arm around his wife, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek.

“It’s pancakes.” Rosa says, and Victor reaches for one that was already done, but Rosa swats his hand away. “And they’re not done yet.” She tries to sound stern, but she couldn’t suppress her laughter as Victor reaches with his other hand and tears off a piece to taste.

“It’s delicious honey.” He says, giving her another quick kiss. Rosa rolls her eyes.

“Go make yourself useful and set the table.” Rosa smiles, turning to the stove again. Victor chuckles behind her, following her command and grabbing 8 plates from the kitchen cabinet. Rosa and Victor worked silently, working around each other effortlessly as the noise in the living room steadily increased.

It was a stark difference from the silence that hung around the house at night, but again, Rosa wouldn’t change it for the world.

“You rascal!” Mary laughs from the other side of the room, and Rosa can’t suppress a smile on her face either. Laughter blooms, echoing through the whole house. “Oh are you two teaming up now?” She continues, but the hint of laughter was clear in her voice.

Rosa chuckles, turning off the stove and putting the last pancakes in the oven to keep them warm until they were all around the table, but turning it off. She turns around, walking towards the living room, and chuckling again. Mary was chasing Darla around the room, with Eugene trying to hold her back and protect his little sister.

Victor goes to stand beside her, a cup of coffee in his hand and sipping it with an amused face.

“Freddy and Billy still not up?” He asks, and Rosa glances around the room. Pedro was sitting in the living room as well, but Victor was right, no Freddy or Billy in sight. She sighs, glancing at the clock.

“I’ll go wake them.” She says, it was past 10AM, and the breakfast was long ready. But none of them were surprised. Freddy was notorious for sleeping in because he was such a deep sleeper, and Billy was like any teenager, not fond of early mornings. Rosa walks past her kids, knowing better than to get involved.

Darla lets out a squeal of laughter behind her. “I got you!” Mary laughs before Darla erupts in giggles. Rosa smiles as well, walking up the stairs.

“Freddy? Billy?” She calls out, knocking on the door. She didn’t get a response, so she carefully opened the door. Freddy was blinking warily, rubbing his eyes and glancing at him.

“Morning mom.” He says, sitting up carefully. Rosa glances at the top bunk, only now realising that it was empty.

“Is Billy in the bathroom?” She asks, and Freddy looks up.

“I mean I just woke up when you knocked, could be.” He says, reaching for his crutch and standing up. Rosa feels panic crawl through her body, but she tried to push it down. Billy was just in the bathroom, I mean, where else would he be? She quickly walked out of the room, hurrying over to the bathroom.

The panic really set in when the bathroom was empty.

“Freddy?” She calls out, running back to the room. “Freddy, where is Billy?” She asks, eyes wide with panic. Freddy’s eyes widen as well, and he suddenly felt really small. Rosa walks over to the window, as if she was hoping he would be outside, but the window was still locked, so he couldn’t have…

“Mom…” Freddy hesitantly calls out, picking up a book that was on top of their closet. “This is Billy’s.” He whispers, showing it to Rosa. The latter immediately rushes over, opening the drawer that was Billy’s, and her heart just… it felt like it wanted to stop right then and there when she saw what was in the drawer.

Or rather… what wasn’t in the drawer.

It was empty, his clothes, how little he had in the first place, were gone. Rosa whirls around, scanning the room, but she wasn’t surprised to see that Billy’s bag was missing as well. The same green bag that he took with him, everywhere.

“Mom where is Billy?” Freddy asks softly, taking a hesitant step towards her. Rosa whirls around, tears jumping in her eyes. She takes the book from Freddy, almost as if she wanted to be sure it was his, but she recognised the book, she recognised the name on the label on the front.

It was undoubtedly Billy’s.

“I-I… “ Rosa stammers, before the book falls out of her hand, clattering to the ground. It almost sounded deafening, but Rosa couldn’t seem to care about that at all. Rosa brushed past Freddy, running out of the room.

“Mom!” Freddy cried out, but Rosa didn’t seem to hear him.

“VICTOR!” Rosa screamed, running downstairs as fast as she could. She skipped a few steps, but she could only think about getting down as _fast_ as possible. Billy was missing, he was gone… he ran away.

Victor put his cup of coffee down immediately, running over to meet Rosa halfway. Her eyes were wide with panic, and she could feel tears jump into her eyes at the thought… _Billy_.

“What’s wrong?” His voice was urgent, clearly on edge at the panic of his wife. Darla’s laughter had died down, and a tense silence hung around the room. Rosa swallowed thickly, a single tears falling.

“Billy’s gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also; you guys are too smart xD I was hoping nobody would figure out that Billy would probably overhear the conversation, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Oh well *shrug*. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed nevertheless, and a cookie to everyone who guessed it right :3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been a crazy week you guys, my country won Eurovision!! I’m so excited! Which is why my replies were a little slow, the jury took so long, and it was well past midnight when it was announced, and I was way too excited to go to bed immediately after that.
> 
> For the ones who have watched it, hope you enjoyed and that your country/favourites did well! Now ignore my ramblings and onto the story!

 

_“Billy’s gone.”_

The tension had been bad before, but that sentence alone seemed to make it a million times worse. Victor breath hitches in his throat, and for a moment, nobody dared to move, couldn’t move.

“He.. what do you mean he’s gone?” Victor exclaims, a sense of desperation seeping through his voice. Rosa puts a hand over his mouth, shaking her head. They both knew what Rosa meant, they all did.

“His backpack and clothes are gone.” Rosa whispers, barely audible through her hand. Victor hisses at the sentences. He takes a deep breath, walking over to Rosa with big strides.

“Okay okay, this isn’t the first time he did it.” Victor tries to reason, glancing at Freddy who was making his way down the stairs. He wasn’t as fast as Rosa because of his crutch, but the look on his face told Victor enough, he knew about Billy as well, probably had been in the room when Rosa discovered it.

“I should’ve realised it Victor, he was so quiet and he didn’t want to-” Rosa stops herself, taking a shuddering breath. She furiously wiped at her eyes. “Why would he run away?”

“It’s not the first time honey.” Victor repeated again, gentler this time. But Rosa wasn’t having it, shaking her head.

“No, no I know. But he always ran away because he was looking for his mom… but she doesn’t want him, and he told us he wanted to stay with us.” Rosa argues, and Victor find himself growing silent. Because he did know that, he had been there when Billy told them about finding his mom.

They had all been there when Billy called for all hands on deck during dinner just after the superhero incident.

Rosa was right, he had told them he wanted to stay.

“Let’s… sit down first okay?” Victor eventually says, his voice defeated. Rosa nods numbly, allowing him to guide her to the couch. Darla was looking at her with wide teary eyes, Mary’s arms tightly wrapped around her.

“Is Billy really gone?” She whispers, and Mary closes her eyes for a moment.

“We don’t know Darla.” She murmurs, and Darla turns towards her older sister, burying her face in her collarbone. Mary allowed her silently, tightening her grip on the little girl.

“I’m going to call the police, the sooner they start looking for him the better.” Victor say as Rosa sits down, walking away quickly and coming back with the phone. Freddy silently walks over to the couch as well, leaning on the armrest next to Mary and Darla. Eugene was sitting between the older girl and Pedro.

And they all looked so young all of a sudden, faces filled with worry and anticipation.

Victor quickly dials the number of the local police, putting the device against his ear. Nobody dared to speak as it rung, listening quietly.

“My son is missing, we think he ran away.” Victor spoke, voice surprisingly steady. The other side was inaudible. “William Batson, but he goes by Billy.” He continued, glancing at Rosa for a moment. She reaches out with a shaky hand, grasping his tightly.

“August 24th, 2005. He’s 5’9, 135 pounds.” Victor glances at Rosa gain, a slight frown on his face. “Uhm, he has a brown coat with shearling collar, and two pockets. A red hoodie underneath it. Fingerless gloves and a black beanie. He also has a green backpack, he took it with him.”

Rosa immediately stood up, grabbing her phone from the table. Victor glances at her as she scrolls through her photos before showing him a picture of Billy. She had taken it when they were outside just after Christmas, and he was wearing the same brown jacket and red sweater.

“We have a picture of what he’s wearing.” Victor nods at Rosa. “We will, thank you.” Victor finishes, stopping the call and standing up.

“What did they say?” Rosa asks, voice equally as anxious.

“We have to come to the station, the picture will help find him.” Victor says, already reaching for the car keys. Rosa nods, turning to the kids.

“You have to stay here for now, we’re going to make sure Billy gets home safely okay?” She says, but it was only Mary who nodded, carefully stroking Darla’s head in an attempt to comfort the little girl.

“We’ll stay here.” Mary nods, a determined look on her face. Rosa and Victor are quiet for moment, a second of silence before Rosa nods, turning around. And together with Victor, she rushes out of the house and into the car.

*

*

*

Billy didn’t really know where to go right now. He had always gone to look for his mom when he ran away, if he hadn’t run away to get away from parents who would go too far with disciplining him, or when they would grow too aggressive as he had annoyed them too much already.

It wasn’t unusual to land with a family that only took him in for the money, and expected easy cash from him.

Some families still pretended to want to give him a home, to pity him, something he never wanted in the first place. They tried to make him feel at home, and give him a sob story on why they took him in. But in the end, a lot of them did it for the money, plain and simply for the money they’d got from him.

Others weren’t as discreet as them, and would just tell him when he got to the home. He had always scoffed, because he couldn’t care less _why_ they took him in. He didn’t need them, he always had his mom that he needed to find, where he could go if he did. It just meant he knew that he shouldn’t push their buttons too much.

That they didn’t want him around, and that he had to avoid them.

But right now… his mother didn’t want him, she made that perfectly clear when he found her. Despite that, he found himself unconsciously walking over to her apartment. And yet, he also couldn’t get himself to stop walking down the same road he had walked down just 2 weeks ago, but back then he didn’t know that he was unwanted.

Billy sighs, stopping as he reached the street of his mother’s apartment.

He stopped in his tracks, suddenly not getting himself to move. He had no idea why he even wanted to come here. His mother didn’t want to take him in, and he had already told her he had found a new family, so to just come back here again wasn’t an option he wanted to take really. He was found with his mother thinking he was happy.

And yet, he couldn’t seem to move away, so he walked over to the nearest bench, setting his bag down before sitting down as well. The bench was cold, but he just stayed where he was, dully watching the entrance on the other side of the street.

*

*

*

She never left the house.. or she was never home to begin with. He never bothered to search for his mother’s schedule. He had tried to forget her after the carnival incident, even if he couldn’t immediately do that. The lingering feeling of emptiness still wasn’t gone, even after 2 weeks.

He rubbed at his chest absently, taking a shuddering breath.

Billy didn’t know what the life of his mother was, even if he could pretty much guess it. He was young, but he wasn’t stupid, and he wasn’t naïve either. Travis, that’s what her mom had called the guy in her apartment, and Billy knew that had to be her boyfriend, or maybe it was her husband.

He didn’t know enough about either of them, he didn’t know Travis, and at the same time he didn’t _need_ to know him to know what kind of person he was. He knew that by the way he had shouted at his mom. But that wasn’t his responsibility, it wasn’t his job to care for a woman who didn’t care for him, or _about_ him.

So he left eventually, not knowing how long it had been.

He wandered the streets of Philadelphia, trying not to walk back to the Vasquez house in fear of getting caught.. He had no clue if they were looking for him right now. Freddy probably was, and maybe Rosa and Victor were too because they didn’t want to be held responsible if they couldn’t find him.

Or something happened to him.

But he certainly didn’t need their fake concern. He had no interest in hearing their fake speech that a lot of his foster parents would give to him. That they wanted him to find a better family, that he deserved a good family that cared for him, but they just didn’t want to deal with his shit themselves at all.

Some didn’t even bother, and they just kicked him out, or let him be taken away without a word.

But he knew that Freddy would be sad, he would probably look for him, he just had to hide from them for a day, that is all it would take. They would forget about him, and move on with their lives. So he had to keep himself from turning into his alter ego for a few days, Shazam was too recognisable.

Someone would post a picture online when they saw him, or would say they had seen him, and that was all Eugene would need to find him. You know, if he actually wanted to waste time finding him. He still couldn’t risk it, so he stubbornly stuffed his hands in his pockets as he continued to wander on.

He spend the day wandering around the city, trying to organise his thoughts enough to make a coherent plan. He still had _some_ money left from Rosa and Victor, but he didn’t just want to spend it immediately. He could recycle bottles again for some money, and for now there were adequate soup kitchens.

As it was slowly getting later Billy made his way over to one of the shelters. Even though he knew he most likely wasn’t going to get a bed anyways, or even be allowed to stay.

“Excuse me?” Billy asks quietly, trying to not gain attention of anyone else. The guard turns around, looking at him. “Can my name be put on the list?” He asks, and the security guards nods, face twisting slightly.

“I can’t promise anything kid, there are a lot of full beds, and a lot of people who want to use ‘em with this weather.” He says.

“I know, this isn’t my first time doing this.” Billy says, and the guard sighs, taking his pen off the clipboard. “It’s Billy Batson.” The guard nods again, writing it down.

“I’ll see what I can do, curfew is at 7.” Then, he walks away. Billy isn’t surprised at all, and he walks over to a corner far away from any other people but close enough to hear the eventual name calls. He drew his knees up to his chest, and all he could do was wait for the time to pass.

*

*

*

“Still nothing?” Victor asks, glancing at Rosa. But the woman shook her head, not looking up from her phone. Victor reaches out with one hand, grabbing hers. “You have your sound on honey, you will hear it if the police discovers something.” Victor continues, and Rosa closes her eyes for a moment.

“I just… I don’t think I can sleep knowing he’s out there somewhere. It’s already freezing out there, and you know what it’s like sleeping in shelters.” _If you even got into one_ was left unspoken, but both of them heard it. They had both been foster kids as well, so they knew how it worked.

Granted, they never had to stay in a homeless shelter, they had been lucky… if being a foster kid in the first place could be called lucky. But they had heard from other kids what it was like to stay in them, and Rosa could cry at the thought of Billy staying in such a place, or not at all.

The car slowly came to a stop.

“We will find him, Rosa. You’ll see.” Victor says, unclipping his belt and stepping out of the car. Rosa quickly follows, walking over to another homeless shelter. It was actually sickening just how many there were in Philadelphia alone. But Rosa pushed that thought down as she walked inside.

“I’m sorry ma’am, you missed curfew.” One of the guards spoke, holding up his hand. Rosa shook his head.

“We’re not here for shelter, we’re looking for someone. Do you have a list of names?” She asks, barely able to keep her voice steady.

“I can’t just give you a list, I’m sorry.” He says.

“Please, he’s just a little boy. I just need to know if he’s here.” Rosa begs, taking out her phone with shaky fingers and showing him a picture of Billy. The guard frowns.

“He’s been here, I recognise him.” He says, and Rosa takes a shuddering breath, relief coursing through her. “This your kid?” He asks, and both Rosa and Victor don’t even hesitate, nodding both.

“He is, he ran away and we don’t know why. But we need to find him.” Victor spoke, and the guard nodded, walking over to the front desk and grabbing a clipboard.

“What is his name?” He asks.

“Billy Batson.” Rosa whispers, and the guard scans the list for a moment. Rosa could her heart hammering in her chest. He was okay, he was right here.

“I’m so sorry ma’am.” The guard spoke, and Rosa could swear she could feel her heart break in two. “Everyone showed up tonight, there were no more places available for him. I didn’t think-”

“He’s a child!” Victor boomed, but the guard shook his head.

“I know he is, but he wasn’t the only one tonight, and certainly not the first child. I’m sorry.”

“When did he leave.” Rosa whispers, creeping closer to Victor. The guard glances at the clock.

“Curfew was at 7PM, so 2 hours ago I think?” The guard answers. Rosa nods shakily, wiping her tears.

“Thank you.” She croaks, turning around and Victor follows her, wrapping an arm around her. The moment they stepped outside, and Rosa could feel the icy wind hit her skin, she burst in tears. “He was here Victor, we could’ve.. if we had just been quicker..” Rosa stopped, burying her face in Victor’s collarbone.

He just held her close, not knowing how to comfort her, not when he was as distraught as Rosa was.

*

*

*

Billy didn’t want to say he was lucky, but he would be eternally grateful for the blanket he had found, and the abandoned building he had found not far away from the shelter. The house wasn’t warm, but it protected him from the worst of the cold, and the blanket actually kept him semi-warm.

It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than the alternative.

He was about to drift off again, when a sound echoed through the building. His eyes flew open, blinking heavily against the dark.

“What the shit are you doing here?” Something suddenly kicked at his feet, and Billy scrambled up, hands clutching his bag and the blanket, before taking a few steps backwards.

“Sleeping.” Billy frowns, body tense. He could vaguely make out three guys standing in front of him, all considerably older, taller, and more muscular.

“I don’t think so kid, this is our place.” One of the guys said, stalking over to him and grabbing the front of his shirt.

“I was here first.” Billy ground out, frowning.

“You want to say that again?” The guy growled, bringing Billy closer. Billy glares, but the guy seemed anything _but_ impressed. “That’s what I thought.” The guy snorted, throwing him onto the ground. Billy let out an oof at the impact, but he wasn’t stupid. So he carefully climbed to his feet, keeping his mouth shut.

He grabbed his bag and blanket a little tighter before walking out. The guys snickered behind him, but he ignored them.

The icy wind hit him like a wrecking ball, and he flinches slightly. The streets were mostly silent, only an occasional car, or a bark. And Billy was too tired to walk far. He knew it had to be at least past midnight, so it was no use finding someone, or somewhere else to stay at, not at this hour.

So he dragged his blanket over to the dumpster, crawling behind it so he was protected from the wind, and potential others who would try and claim his spot, or try to steal his stuff.

He curled up around himself, using his backpack as a pillow. He was already wearing most of his clothes to keep him warm, including multiple pairs of socks, but he still started to shiver after a while. He just curled up tighter, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to ignore the cold.

_Tomorrow… tomorrow he would find better shelter_. It wasn’t even _that_ cold, it had been colder last week, so really.. he shouldn’t complain.

He took a shuddering breath. He was tired, and he just wanted to go to sleep but for some reason sleep just wouldn’t come. He just hoped Freddy and the others weren’t outside anymore, he wasn’t worth it, and he didn’t want them to worry Rosa and Victor in a futile chase to find him.

Freddy hated the cold, because it only made his leg ache worse than it usually did, and he couldn’t stand the thought of him dragging himself through the city for him.

Slowly he could feel his eyelids grow heavier, and so did his body. His limbs ached, not wanting to move anymore, and he briefly wondered if this is how Freddy felt all the time, with his bad leg aching all the time, or just not wanting to work. He just laid there, waiting to finally fall asleep. And he knew… he really knew that he should’ve been alarmed....

… But he was too sleepy to notice he had slowly stopped shivering.


	5. Chapter 5

“We can’t just sit around here and do nothing, right?” Freddy exclaims, throwing his arms in the air. Mary glances at him with worried eyes.

“Mom and dad told us to stay home Freddy.” She reminds him, and Freddy huffs, grabbing his crutch and standing up.

“And we’re just going to accept that? We’re just going to let the police try to find Billy?” He continues, walking over to Mary. She was standing in front of the window, gazing out of the window where she had just seen her mom and dad drive out of the street in their usual van, quicker than usual.

It was the third time they had left already. They had come back after a few hours the first time. They had given everything they could give on Billy, and the police was sending out alert through the area. They left quickly, so they could search themselves, only coming back to make dinner before they left again.

Mary sighs, fully turning around.

“What do you suggest, dragging ourselves through the streets to find Billy even when the police can’t?” Mary asks, and Freddy could hear the hint of frustration rising. The same frustration he could feel pooling in his stomach.

“ _We_ can’t, but our other selves can.” Freddy almost shouts. “We can fly, we’re faster than the cops, and we know what Billy can turn into.”

“Assuming he does.” Eugene mutters from the chair, causing everyone to look at him. “He knows that we know, and our superhero forms are famous.” Eugene continues when he sees the confused faces of his siblings.

“People will take pictures of him if he transforms.” Darla adds, and Freddy frowns as well, taking a few steps back before sitting down on the armrest. He rubs at his face, feeling the last sliver of hope disappear.

“He won’t do it.” Freddy shakes his head, glancing up. “He won’t transform because he knows we’ll find him if he does. Darla’s right Mary, he won’t transform, a-and it’s freezing out there, and-” Freddy stops himself, feeling tears burn in his eyes, and before he could stop them, they started trailing down his face.

Mary’s face twists, slowly walking over to her little brother and gently tipping his chin up so he was looking at her. Freddy doesn’t turn away, staring up at his sister with tears in his eyes.

“He’ll be alright.” Mary says, gnawing at her lips as she glances at the two youngest members that were still quietly sitting on the couch. “But you’re right, we can help, we _should_ help.” Mary correct herself, and Freddy basically lit up.

“Yes! Yes we should, but..” He stops again, turning to Darla and Eugene.

“We can help look.” Darla said, clearly understanding what both Freddy and Mary were hinting at. Mary sighs, hanging her head for a moment.

“Only if you stay with me all the time, I can’t risk losing you as well right now.” Mary says, voice stern. Darla nods, letting herself slide off the couch to walk over to her bigger sister. “Okay, Darla’s with me, Pedro, Eugene, can you go with Freddy?” She asks, but Freddy shook his head.

“I can go alone, 3 teams is more effective than one.” Freddy says, for once the sentence short and leaving no room for any debate. The boy stands up again, using his crutch to walk to the back of the house and already opening the door to go outside.

“Freddy.” Mary calls after him, but before she can walk after him, a strong and yet gentle hand stopped her. She glances around, looking at Pedro. The other boy just shook his head softly, and that was enough for Mary to understand what he wanted to say. She sighs, rubbing her face.

“I swear, I’m barely an adult and I can already feel my hair go grey.” She mutters, glancing down at Darla. “You ready?” She asks, and Darla nods, grabbing Mary’s hand as they walked over to the back garden. Freddy was already standing there, waiting for the rest to come outside as well.

He was standing with the back turned towards them, looking up at the sky absently, crutch already against the porch.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Mary sighs. “Don’t stay out to long, let’s meet back here every hour okay?” She continues, and they all nod.

“Let’s find Billy.” Pedro mutters before they all utter the phrase ‘Shazam’. Lightning struck them all, transforming them into their alter egos. Freddy immediately took off, leaving the rest of his siblings in a gush of wind. They all watch him go, but it wasn’t long before their brother was out of sight.

“Is he mad at us?” Darla asks softly, glancing at Mary. The older sibling shakes her head.

“I think he feels guilty.” Mary says, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“For what? He didn’t cause Billy to run away.” The childlike innocence in Darla’s voice was even worse now she was in her adult form, it only made Mary realise even more that she was still a little girl.

“You know how Freddy gets Darla, let’s just.. go.” She says, floating slightly above the ground as a silent invitation for Darla, and Pedro and eugene, to follow.

*

*

*

He flew… just flew through the streets, through the alleys, over the rooftops and looking everywhere that Billy could possibly be. Freddy was almost ashamed that he had no idea where Billy would’ve gone. He had already checked his mom’s apartment, but he wasn’t there when he was.

Apart from that, he was left guessing.

For awhile he debated to go to his mother, go inside and ask her if she had seen Billy. But he eventually decided against it. He didn’t need Billy’s mom suspecting him to know Billy, and maybe figure out their identities. And he knew Billy wouldn’t appreciate him shattering the image to his mom that he found a family.

So he continued to fly for hours, ignoring all of Mary’s requests to rendezvous back every hour or so. He knew his parents weren’t coming home any time soon, probably staying out until very late and only coming home to sleep. Speaking of… Freddy frowns, slowing down for a moment to gaze down.

He squints slightly, watching his parents.

They were sitting on one of the benches in the park. Victor had his arms wrapped loosely around Rosa’s shoulders, holding her close and softly rubbing her back. Even from this distance, Freddy could see his mother shaking on the spot, a clear sign that she was crying right now.

He took a deep breath, slowly flying down until he was hovering just above the ground. Rosa and Victor both snapped their heads up at the sight of him, and Freddy could feel his stomach turn slightly at the sight. He still hovered, not trusting himself to stand on the ground in front of them.

“Good evening uhm.. citizens.” Freddy says, frowning slightly. “What are you doing out so late?”

“You’re one of the superheroes.” Rosa says softly, wiping away the tears. “We… our son ran away, we’re looking for him.” Rosa continues, and Freddy could feel his heart ache. Not just because Billy was gone, and missing, but also because his mom sounded so heartbroken, and so desperate over the fact that Billy had run away from them.

A thought occurred to him. “What does your son look like?” He asks, hovering a little close. His leg… although it was much better in this form, still wasn’t entirely okay. He could run on it, sure, but it still hurt, ached was probably a better word. He didn’t like it, he preferred flying because it put the least amount of pressure on his leg, and he didn’t want to risk his parents knowing that he, as in the superhero him, had a bad leg, just like Freddy.

“Oh no, I can’t ask that if you.” Rosa sniffles, shaking her head. “You have more important stuff.” And yet, Freddy could see she wanted to.

“I’m a superhero ma’am, this is what I do. Lemme help you find him.” It would be the perfect cover story for when he did find Billy…. if he found him. He could explain why he was looking for Billy without revealing his identity. Victor was the first one to stand up, taking his phone from his pocket.

“This is him.” He says, handing over the phone, which Freddy carefully takes. It had taken him a while to realise the strength he possessed in this form, and now he was glad at Mary persistence to train, or he would’ve probably crushed the phone.

“His name is Billy, he’s just 14 years old.” Rosa stands besides Victor, and Freddy can feel his throat go dry. Billy’s smile was staring right at him, almost mocking him and reminding him that he was still gone. He handed the phone back, jaw locked almost painfully.

“He ran away somewhere during the night, we don’t know why but…. we’re foster parents, and he just started living with us. He’s had a difficult life, so we think he ran away because he didn’t feel safe or something.” And now, tears even started falling down Victor’s cheeks, and Rosa creeped closer to him, both finding comfort in each other.

“Do you have any idea where he would’ve gone?” He asks, maybe his parents knew something…. Maybe someone…

Rosa nods. “A homeless shelter saw him, but turned him away because they were full, but that was almost 4 hours ago.” Rosa says.

“He can’t have gotten far, it was already late and he would’ve tried to find shelter quickly.” Victor tires to reason, and Rosa nods, glancing up at him. Freddy swallows thickly.

“I will try my best to find him.” He says, waiting for a second, as if he wanted to see if his parents said anything else, but even they looked too surprised to answer the superhero that was standing in front of them. _If only you knew… mom, dad._ He flies up in the air again, staying low this time.

_I’m going to bring Billy home, I swear_.

*

*

*

He knew he’d be in so much trouble when he did finally get home. After all, his parents had to have gotten home by now. It was well past midnight already, how long… Freddy didn’t really know, and he didn’t particularly care in the first place. Finding Billy was his top priority right now.

The night had quieted down mostly, and he hadn’t seen his siblings for a long time either.

They would sometimes cross paths at the beginning, and especially when he had told them what his parents had told them. Billy had to be somewhere in the area, and that’s what they all did. But eventually, even his siblings disappeared once midnight rolled around, Mary going last.

But not before making a futile to get him to go home as well. He had refused, for once, didn’t even want to speak to his sister. He didn’t want to go home knowing that Billy wasn’t home, he couldn’t _sleep_ knowing that Billy wasn’t in the bunk bed above him. So he didn’t listen, didn’t respond.

He flew a little closer, carefully landing in front of a building. It was obviously abandoned. He took a deep breath, taking off again and finding a way in. The door creaked slightly as he slowly opened it. There wasn’t a lot of light, if there was any at all, but he still flew in nevertheless.

“What the fuck dude?” Someone hisses, and Freddy jumps up higher, heart jumping at the sudden voice.

“Who is there?” He asks, trying to control his voice. Now he was glad that his alter ego gave him a more intimidating one.

“None of your fucking business, and stop shining that freaking light.” The same voice said.

“The fuck is that?” Another voice, and Freddy hovered forwards, allowing the symbol on his chest to light up the room a bit more. There were three guys looking at him, and Freddy knew for sure that they weren’t sober right now.

“Anyone else with you?” Freddy asks.

“No dude, get the fuck out of here.” The second voice says, throwing something at him. It missed, and he doubted it would’ve hurt if it did hit him.

“Geez, I’m gone.” Freddy mutters, turning around.

“What the fuck is up with all these clowns coming into our homes?” One mutters, and Freddy just… stills. He whirls around, eyes wide. And before he knew what he was doing, he flew towards the person who just opened his mouth. His hand wrapped around the guy’s throat, and his eyes widened as he was slammed against a wall.

“What did you say?” He demands, and the guy swallows thickly under his hand.

“S-Some guy… young I think, he was in our place.. here. We kicked him o-out.” He stuttered, and Freddy sneers.

“You kicked someone out in this weather?” He asks, glaring.

“It’s our freaking home.” One of the other guys butts in. “So yes, we kicked him out. Out here you don’t survive by playing fair.” He bit out. Freddy growled, but he quickly backed off.

“When?” He demanded.

“Shit I don’t know man, hours ago?” Freddy could _scream_ at the sentence. “B-But dude.. he shouldn’t be far, it was late, and-” Freddy was gone before the guy could finish the sentence, slamming the door shut. He flies into the alley, stopping in front of the door that led to the building.

“Billy?” He hisses, whirling around to watch the entire alley. It was then that he noticed the dumpster, and he was almost too afraid to walk over to it. He still did. His heart sunk at the sight of a small figure. “Billy?!” He cries out, pulling at the dumpster to get it out of the way to reveal what was behind it.

Billy was wrapped up in a thin blanket, curled up as tightly as he could.

“Billy?” His voice was soft, hesitant. He slowly flew over to him, landing in front of the boy and crouching down. “Billy wake up.” He said, shaking Billy. Immediately he recoiled his hand, eyes widening. Billy was ice cold, skin a sickly pale colour. Freddy cursed in his head, heart hammering.

He didn’t care about anything else anymore, didn’t care about the possibility of someone finding out his secret identity, he just knew he had to get Billy to the hospital as quickly as he could. So he scooped Billy up, suppressing a flinch as his cold and unresponsive body touched his.

He cradled him close, before quickly taking off, straight to the nearest hospital.

A few people gasped in surprise when he suddenly flew through the door of the ER, but he couldn’t care less about it, he could only feel worry for his brother right now.

“He needs help, please.” He pleads, and it only took a second for two doctors to jump into action. A stretcher was immediately wheeled over to him, and they carefully took Billy from him, Freddy had to bite back his tears.

“What happened?” One of the doctors asks, grabbing a light and opening Billy eyelid, while the other one was holding a finger to his wrist, counting his pulse.

“I-I.. I found him like this, I don’t know what happened or why he was there.” Freddy tries, shaking his head and taking a hesitant step backwards. His leg ached, sending signals that told him it was _wrong_ to stand on it. Freddy couldn’t fully describe it, but it was as if you had been hiccupping for hours, and suddenly stopped.

Just… wrong.

“He’s unresponsive.” The same doctor concludes, a worried expression on his face. “Do you have any idea who this is?” He asks, gaze turned to Freddy.

“His parents are Victor and Rosa Vasquez.. that’s all I know.” Freddy stammers.

“Temperature is below 86 degrees, we need to move fast.” The other doctor says.

“I gotta go, I have more to do.” That’s all the excuse Freddy could come up with, all he could muster. He had to go quickly, before he really broke… and he had to go home because they would call his parents now they found him.

“Page doctor Collins now, we need to warm him up. We’ll need to give him warm fluids intravenously, irrigate the peritoneal cavity every-” Freddy couldn’t hear more, flying out before the doctor could even finish the sentence. Freddy turned around for just a split second.

But it was enough to see Billy wheeled away towards another room, still unresponsive, and temperature dangerously low.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t y’all just love cliff hangers? (As much as this can be categorised as one, we all know he’s going to be alright xD)
> 
> Thank you for reading, comments will be used to motivate me to write an extra chapter at the end of this story :3


	6. Chapter 6

For the first time since he gained his powers he couldn’t seem to enjoy the feeling of flying through the air, the feeling of finally being _good_ at something, feeling free. He couldn’t appreciate them anymore, not now his mind was just completely blank. He didn’t _want_ to think about anything else than focus on getting home.

He wasn’t as fast Darla was unfortunately, but his powers did make him faster than normal humans would be, so it wasn’t long before he reached home, for which he was glad. He landed in the backward with a soft thud, walking over to the porch where his cane was luckily still leaning against.

“Shazam.” He muttered, allowing magic to turn himself back. Then immediately he grabbed his crutch, struggling inside. Now he was just glad that the door wasn’t locked, which was probably Mary’s doing as she knew he was still out there. She probably also hoped he’d come back during the night.

He silently creeped into the house, stopping for a moment to take in his surroundings.

All the lights had been turned off, and it was deadly quiet, which meant everyone was either asleep or not even home yet. So he made his way over to the stairs, making his way to his bedroom. Just when he was in front of his door, he could hear a phone go off. He startled, eyes widening and glancing over at the bedroom of Rosa and Victor.

“Hello?” He could faintly hear, and Freddy’s heart skipped a beat. “He is?!” Rosa’s voice was raised, and it was clear to Freddy who Rosa was talking about. To avoid suspicion, he quickly went into his room, slowly closing the door but not moving away from it. He listened carefully, and it wasn’t long before he heard a door open.

“Victor get the car ready.” Rosa ordered, and he could soon hear hurried steps downwards. He opened the door, not even caring if it was suspicious.

“Mom?” He asks, and Rosa whirls around, eyes wide. “What’s wrong?” He couldn’t know… he couldn’t know what his mom had just heard in the phone.

“The hospital, they just called, Billy’s in the ER.” She says, and Freddy could hear the pain lingering in her voice. “We’re going there right now.”  His mom was about to turn around.

“I’m coming with you.” Freddy says, already walking over to the stairs. His mom stares at him for just a second.

“We’re going _now_.” She stresses, but Freddy already knew. They quickly made their way downstairs, and even Victor was too distressed to actually care that Freddy was there with them, hurriedly helping him inside the van before driving off.

“What did they say?” Freddy asks nervously. At least Billy was still alive… that was good, right? He just didn’t know what to expect.

“Not much, someone brought him in, he was suffering from hypothermia but… “ Rosa sobbed, putting a hand on front of her mouth.

“But what mom?” Freddy whispers, feeling dread course through his body.

“They couldn’t tell me if he was going to be alright.” Freddy felt himself go numb at the statement, body stiffening. They didn’t know for sure if Billy was going to be alright.. they didn’t know if he would survive. Maybe this would’ve been the last moment he would experience whilst his brother was alive

Maybe the last time he would’ve seen his brother was when he held him in his arms, unconscious.

The last time he would’ve talked to Billy was a simple goodnight, because he had been too exhausted at the moment to talk any more than that. His leg aching, head hurting from the sleepiness. He had cut off Billy because of a minor headache and issues with his leg… and maybe it would’ve been the last conversation he would have.

He didn’t know if he could handle that…

It wasn’t long… and yet too long at the same time, before they reached the hospital. Victor parked on the parking lot of the ER, immediately shutting off the car and hopping out. Freddy moves to open the door, quickly stepping out of the van and walking into the building as fast as he could.

Victor was already at the reception desk, hurriedly talking to a staff member.

“Yes he was brought into the ER like 15 minutes ago.” Freddy could hear the man behind the desk say. “I’m afraid I can’t let you see him, he’s still being treated.”

“Any news?” Rosa asks as she slowly walks up to the desk. She gently wraps an arm around Freddy’s shoulder.

“I’m really sorry ma’am but there is no further news yet. So far his condition is critical if not unknown to me.” Rosa tightens her grip slightly at the news. “You can take a seat in the waiting room, I will make sure someone contacts you the moment there is any news on your son, okay?”

Victor nods numbly at the man. “Thank you.” He says, turning to Rosa and Freddy instead. He silently wraps an arm around Freddy’s shoulders as well, and they walk to the seats to sit down.

“What are you doing?” Freddy asks with a confused face as Rosa pulls out her phone.

“I’m texting Mary, so she’ll know where we are when she wakes up.” Rosa says softly, wiping away her tears as she does. Freddy leans his head against his mom’s shoulder, watched tiredly as his mom sent a text to Mary’s number. He could feel tears burn in his eyes at the message she was writing.

It only made everything so much more real.

Rosa must’ve noticed him shaking against her, and she carefully wraps her left arm around him, pulling him a bit closer. Freddy slowly allowed the tears to fall, not bothering, or maybe too tired, to stop them. Slowly, his eyelids grew heavier, and for a moment he realised that this was the result of staying out during the night.

But eventually he allowed himself to drift off into the nothingness.

*

*

*

“Mr and Mrs Vasquez?” A soft voice spoke, and Victor could feel a hand on his shoulder. He jerked awake, looking up at the voice with a bewildered look on his voice. “I’m sorry to wake you.” The voice continues, a doctor was standing in front of him.

“Do you have news from Billy?” He asks immediately, standing up. The doctor smiled softly, nodding. Victor releases a shaky breath, turning to Rosa and Freddy. The latter was curled up tightly against Rosa’s side, bad leg awkwardly stretched. Both of them were still very clearly asleep.

Victor reaches out for his wife, shaking her awake. Rosa immediately blinks her eyes open, staring at him.

“There’s news on Billy.” He says, glancing at the doctor as well.

“Is he okay?” Rosa immediately asks, and Victor knew that Freddy leaning against her was the only thing keeping her from standing up. Freddy blinked warily at the movement, but unlike both Rosa and Victor he seemed to be in a deeper sleep, and he was taking longer than his parents to wake up.

“We think he’ll be alright.” The doctor says immediately, not beating around the bush. “Billy had a temperature of 84 degrees Fahrenheit, which means passive external rewarming wasn’t possible anymore because it would increase the chances of arrhythmia.” The doctor explains.

“Arrhythmia?” Rosa asks softly.

“Irregular heartbeats.” The doctor specifies. “So instead we had to treat him with active core warming, to which he responded remarkably well actually. His vitals are still not entirely stable, but we’re optimistic.”

“Can we see him?” Victor’s voice cracked, and he furiously wiped at his eyes. The doctor’s eyes softened, and he nodded before motioning them to follow him. They all immediately did without any complaints, following the doctor through a few hallways, until they were eventually led into a room.

Rosa gasps in horror as she sees Billy lying in the hospital bed.

He looked awful, that’s the only word she could seem to find at the moment. She took a hesitant step forwards, hand going to her mouth in shock. Billy was pale as a ghost, lying on his back with the blanket pulled up to the middle of his chest. He was wearing a hospital gown, which only made his skin seem paler.

There was an IV in his left arm, a clear liquid hanging in a bag next to the bed. There was an oxygen mask on his face, the mask connected to something that disappeared into the wall.  There was a bandage wrapped around his right arm. And on top of that his face was still a mess of dark bruises.

“The oxygen mask is giving him warm humidified air and the IV is filled with warm fluids.” The doctor continues after a silence. “We warmed his blood with a haemodialysis machine for a few hours, and irrigated his abdomen with warm salt water every 20 minutes for the past 2 hours.”

“Is that bad? It sounds bad.” Freddy mutters softly, almost not daring to speak up.

“It sounds and looks worse than it is. We inserted two needles to take away the blood, warm it up before inserting it again. When his temperature was high enough again we removed them.” The doctor explains.

“Why isn’t he awake?” Victor asks softly, being the first one to walk over Billy’s side. A hesitant hand hovers over Billy’s, but he eventually rests it on the bed itself.

“He hasn’t woken up so far, but that’s completely normal.” The doctor explains.

“But he’s going to be okay, right?” Freddy speaks up, and the doctor looks at him with a look of pity, and Freddy hated seeing that look.

“We’re optimistic, should no complications arise we expect him to wake up soon.” The doctor says. “Considering Billy is a minor we can allow one parent or guardian in the room at all times, but not all three of you at the same time.” The doctor adds reluctantly, and Rosa snaps her head up.

But she doesn’t say anything, a silent conversation between her and Victor.

Rosa steps forwards, gently grasping Billy’s hand. “We won’t leave you Billy, Victor is going to stay with you, and we’ll be right outside.” Rosa says softly, tears brimming in her eyes. “I love you so much Billy.” She whispers, before reluctantly taking back her hand. She glances at Victor again, who hugs her tight for a moment.

Freddy stands there awkwardly at the end of the bed, not daring himself to come any closer. He couldn’t stand seeing his older brother so lifeless, and at the same time he couldn’t seem to walk away already.

“Visiting hours will be from 11 AM, but to avoid overwhelming him there’s a maximum of three visitors at the same time, okay?” The doctor asks, and Rosa and Victor nods. Victor glances at the clock for a quick second, but it was just 4 AM, so they’d have to wait a long time until visiting hours.

Freddy can’t seem to nod, watching Billy with tears in his eyes. Rosa gently untangles herself from the hug, walking over to him.

“Let’s wait outside, okay?” She asks softly, and he eventually does no, allowing his mom to walk him outside.

*

*

*

“Dad, Freddy?” A panicked voice came, and both Freddy and Victor turned their head towards the source of the sound. Mary was running towards them, and Freddy was just quick enough to stand up before Mary wrapped him in a tight hug. Freddy hugged back without a second thought.

“I found him, I found him.” Freddy mumbled in the hug, and Mary tightened the hug in response. “I wasn’t fast enough Mary, I should’ve… I failed him.” He continued but Mary shook her head.

“It’s not your fault Freddy, you hear me?” She asks, running a hand through his hair. Freddy doesn’t have the energy to nod, so he just stays where he is, numb. Eventually she pulls out of the hug, glancing at their father.

“How is he?” She asks, hugging her father close as well, but shorter than the hug with Freddy.

“Still asleep, nothing has changed.” Victor shook his head slightly. “Rosa is with him right now, they only allow one visitor until 11.” Victor continues, sitting down again. Mary sat down next to him. It was still relatively early in the morning, barely past 9 am, but Mary knew that already before coming here.

That wasn’t why she came, it was to support her family.

She had woken up to that text of mom, and had immediately proceeded to call her, and when she didn’t pick up, she called dad. Rosa probably didn’t hear the phone as they were supposed to be turned off in the room. It wasn’t a good idea to bring Eugene and Darla with them, so Pedro was staying behind to look after them.

“I made some breakfast, I doubt the breakfast here is good.” Mary says, shrugging off the bag and zipping it open to reveal several sandwiches that she had made.

“You’re the best.” Freddy says, grabbing one and unwrapping it. Victor also took one gratefully, eating the breakfast greedily as Mary shrugged off her jacket as well.

“I also brought toothbrushes and toothpaste, and some soap and washcloths, if you wanted to freshen up.” Victor sends her a grateful smile, and Freddy just leans into her side. “Darla also made me pack some fresh shirts and.. this.” Mary continues, taking out a stuffed tiger from the backpack.

“She gave that up willingly?” Freddy asks, eyes widening slightly in surprise. Darla absolutely loved that stuffed tiger, Mr Tawky, it was the last thing she still had of her parents, except for the clothes she had grown out of. So it was very special to her, and she refused to let Rosa even wash it.

“She wanted to give it to Billy, so he knows she is thinking about him.” Mary says with a sad smile on her face. “She said that he had to give it back to her himself when he gets better.” She adds, before carefully putting it in the backpack again.

“How is she holding up?” Victor asks, and Mary glances at him.

“As well as you’d expect, she wanted to come as well. She would only let me go if I would give Mr Tawky to Billy, and if I would call her the moment he was awake.”

“If he wakes up.” Freddy mutters besides her, and Mary frowns, pulling Freddy closer to her side.

“ _When_ he wakes up.” She whispers.

*

*

*

A gasp, a sharp intake of breath was the first indication that Billy was waking up. Rosa immediately snaps her head up, looking at Billy’s face with wide eyes. Her back ached from sitting on the uncomfortable chair too long, and her eyelids were heavy from the lack of sleep since the last day.

But all of that was forgotten when Billy’s face scrunched up.

“Billy?” She asks, standing up and walking closer to the bed. She gasps softly when he blinked his eyes open, but she could immediately see how disorientated they were, eyes glazed over and not really seeing her at all. Tears jumped into his eyes, and it wasn’t long before they started trailing down his face.

“Billy, mi amour?” She asks softly, but Billy shakes his head, eyes seemingly searching for _something…_ someone, but they couldn’t seem to focus on anyone. A low whine escapes his throat, following by a sob, and honestly, Rosa’s heart just broke at the soft sound, sounding so broken, so desperate.

“M-mom.” Billy gasps out, voice muddled by the gas mask on his face. He reaches out wildly, and Rosa could barely reach for his arm to keep him from tearing out his IV. This only made Billy panic even more, sobbing openly.

“Billy calm down.” Rosa pleaded, but Billy tries to jerk away, only managing to rip at the cords connecting him from the heart monitor. Immediately the loud, and continuous, beep ran through the room, only upsetting Billy even more.

“N-no..” He cries, jerking widely in her hold and _still_ not seeing her. So she did the only thing she could think of. She leans forwards and reaching for his shoulders. She pulls him upwards before crushing him in a hug. Billy immediately freezes against her, limbs going numb the moment she hugged him.

But he continues crying, completely rigid against her, but he _cried_.

He wasn’t even silent, loud sobs were torn from Billy’s throat, the sound so broken and vulnerable.

“It’s okay. Estoy aquí, mi amour.” Rosa continues saying, holding him tightly. She ignores everything else around her, she ignores the doctor and nurses coming into the room, no doubt alerted by the heartbeat monitor going off, solely focused on Billy, who was still crying uncontrollably in her hold.

He was shaking, tears rolling down his cheeks and oxygen mask in his way.

And she absolutely refused to let the doctors tell her to let him go right now, she wouldn’t let him go, not now, not ever. So he continued to cry, sobs slowly decreasing.

He cried… until he eventually cried himself back to sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It will only get better from here, I promise D:
> 
> Also, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate all the feedback, you guys are the best!! As always, 10 comments for an extra chapter. Comments will be used to motivate me to study for tests, and pass them (So I will have more time to write stories cause I don't need to study for resits (◕∇◕✿))


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing he could feel was the absolute exhaustion coursing through his entire body, almost as if something was pressing him down on the bed and not allowing him to get up at all. And yet, at the same thing he didn’t even want to attempt to get up in the first place, content where he was.

He frowns slightly, vague memories coming back to him again. The confusion, the feeling that he had to get away from.. _somewhere_. He remembered the absolute panic he had felt, sirens… beeping all of a sudden, loud noises and just the tiredness he felt, that he remembered feeling.

Before he suddenly didn’t feel scared, or cold, or alone.

He carefully blinks, vision blurry for a moment. He blinks again, until slowly the ceiling came into focus. It was _white_ , that was really the first thing that came to his mind, how white everything was around him. He glances down, seeing a blanket pulled up to his waist, and he was wearing a hospital gown.

It was then that he noticed the figure that was slumped in the chair next to his bed. He swallows thickly, feeling his stomach turn at the sight of Rosa.

“Rosa?” He asks, voice cracking and he winces at the pain it caused him. Rosa immediately jerked awake, alarmed eyes landing on his pretty quickly.

“Billy.” Rosa breathes out, immediately out of the chair to walk over to him. “How are you feeling, mi amour?” She asks softly, reaching back to pull the chair as far as she could and sitting down again, never taking her eyes off him. There were tear tracks on her cheeks, that she didn’t bother to wipe away.

“Why are you here?” He whispers, and Rosa frowns, reeling back slightly. Tears jump in Billy’s eyes. Rosa tries to reach out, but Billy flinches away from her. “Why won’t you leave me alone?”

Rosa tucks her hands close to her chest, a hurt expression on her face. For a moment she had no idea what to say, or how to react. Billy looked absolutely heartbroken and yet so betrayed. As if _she_ had been the one to hurt him, or that she was the reason he was in the hospital right now.

“Why wouldn’t I be here, cariño?” Rosa asks, voice tight. She could feel her heart clench at Billy’s desperate expression. A tear trails down his cheek and he glances down, tightening his fists. Rosa could hear the heartbeat monitor speed up ever so slightly, but neither of them paid attention to it.

“I know you want me gone.” He whispers, only confusing Rosa even more.

“Why would you say that Billy? We want you in our life, give you a home.”

Billy shook his head, tears now leaking freely from his eyes. “You don’t have to lie to me, please just.. don’t lie anymore.” _Too many already did before_.

“I’m not lying Billy.” Rosa tries again, carefully reaching forwards and grasping Billy’s left hand softly. Billy’s brown eyes immediately go towards the hand. There was an IV sticking out his arm, a clear liquid from the bag. There was a clip on the finger on the other hand, and there were wires attached to his chest, reading his heartbeat. And a bandage wrapped around his arm.  

She gently rubs his hand with her thumb, kissing it gently.

Billy pulls his arm away, the movement weak. “I heard you,” Billy’s voice cracks. “You said I wasn’t safe to be around, that you wanted me gone.” Something just dawned down on Rosa suddenly.

 _“He’s dangerous, and he’s indirectly putting Freddy and all our kids in danger with his behaviour.”_ That’s what she had said… she had told Vic this. But she wasn’t talking about Billy… so how could he..?

_“We’ll call her together tomorrow and she’ll have to deal with William herself.”_

_“No wonder the mother left him”_

_“I want him as far away from our kids as possible.”_

A sob tore through her, and she covered her mouth with her free hand, shaking softly. Tears were starting to roll down her face, and she shook her head furiously.

“No Billy, we weren’t… I would never say that.” Rosa cries, scrubbing at her eyes.

“You said my name.” Billy whispers, tears brimming in his eyes. “You said William.” Rosa shook her head again.

“Honey we weren’t talking about _you_ … Victor and I were talking about the father of the Bryers… _William_ Bryer.” Billy snaps up his head at the statement, a silence spreading across the room. _Was she…?_

“Y-You.. you want me?” Billy stammers, and Rosa burst out in cries, nodding vigorously.

“We want to give you a home, a loving family Billy.” Rosa cries softly, rubbing at her eyes.

“You do?” The voice was barely audible, so soft and so broken. Rosa stands up, and Billy immediately tightens his grip on her hand, eyes widening in panic. For a second his heart monitor jumps, but Rosa carefully sits down on the edge of the bed until her shoulder brushed against his.

He stares at her, until slowly he allows his head to lean on Rosa’s.

Rosa immediately wraps a gentle arm around him, and Billy turns his head, burying his face against her so nobody could see his face anymore.

“You’re wanted Billy, we want you around.” Rosa murmurs, pressing a kiss to the top of Billy’s head. “Te quiero Billy, I love you so much.” Billy cried silently, shaking against Rosa’s side. The latter just holds him tightly, rubbing Billy’s back gently as he continued to cry quietly in her arms.

Rosa had no idea how long she had been there, or how long Billy had cried, and really, it was as if it was barely a few seconds. Eventually, Billy stopped, going silent. Only his gentle breathing, aided by the nasal cannula, came from him. It was soft, but it was clear to Rosa that he was still awake.

Carefully Rosa shifts, glancing at Billy. “Are you okay?” She asks softly, and Billy nods numbly. Rosa sighs, carting her fingers through his hair, humming softly for a second. “Do you need me to get you anything? Are thirsty or hungry?”

Billy swallows thickly. “Water?” He asks softly, and Rosa nods, carefully climbing out of the bed. Billy’s hand immediately reaches out for Rosa, heart beat going up for a moment. Rosa glances back with worried eyes, and Billy sheepishly pulls his hand away, turning his head away from her.

Rosa smiles sadly, reaching out to tip his face towards her again. “I’m just getting some water, I’m not leaving you.” Rosa says, grasping his chin for a second before carefully standing up. Billy nods shakily but Rosa could feel that his eyes were on her the entire time she walked over to get him some water.

Rosa glances at the clock for a moment, seeing it was almost 11am. She was sure Victor and Freddy wanted to see Billy, and those few minutes wouldn’t be a problem. She grabs a cup, filling it with water before walking back to Billy’s side again.

“Let’s sit you up first okay?” She asks, putting the cup of water on the table next to the bed and putting up the bed so he was more or less sitting up. Rosa sat down on the bed again, gently handing him the cup. Billy took it, hands slightly shaky and Rosa waiting for a few seconds to make sure the grip was strong enough.

But he seemed to be able to drink himself, so Rosa let go of the cup.

“Billy?” Rosa asks as Billy puts down the cup for a moment. “You think you’re up for some more visitors?” Billy immediately glances at the door, as if he was expecting the visitors to be standing right there.

“Who?” Billy asks, and Rosa smiles gently.

“Victor and Freddy are in the waiting room, they never left the hospital.” Rosa says.

“Can I see them?” Billy almost begs, a desperate tone in his voice. Rosa nods, taking out her phone and quickly texting a message.

“How did you find me?” Billy asks, and Rosa gently takes the cup of water from him to put it aside.

“We didn’t, one of the superheroes did, the blue one.” Rosa mentions, and Billy frowns slightly. Freddy was the one to find him? Billy really didn’t know _how_ to feel about that. But at the same time, he could feel nothing but relief that Freddy cared enough to look for him so much.

Before the conversation could continue, a door was carefully opened.

“Billy?” Victor’s voice echoed through the room. Billy immediately snapped his head towards the entrance, eyes widening slightly at the sight of his foster father, Freddy standing next to him. “Thank God you’re awake.” Victor murmured, quickly walking over to Rosa’s wide and wrapping his arms around Billy.

The boy stilled, allowing his foster father to hug him close for a moment.

Carefully Victor lets go of Billy, and the boy seemed to disappear back into the pillows, a tired look on his face. Freddy slowly walked over to the other side of the bed, sitting down on the empty chair. Billy watches him, not daring to open his mouth.

“Nothing?” Freddy almost snaps. “You finally wake up, and you have _nothing_ to say to me? Zero, nothing, nada.”

“Freddy, that’s enough.” Rosa snaps.

“I was worried about you asshole, and you have nothing to say to me?”

“Freddy.” Rosa hisses, But neither of them seemed to notice her.

“I’m sorry.” Billy whispers, Freddy’s face shifted, tears jumping in his eyes.

“Oh shut up.” Freddy murmurs, reaching forwards and crushing Billy to his chest. Billy freezes at the sudden contact, barely keeping himself from flinching away. He was just glad that nobody commented on the heart monitor jumping for a moment. Billy closes his eyes in the embrace.

“Thank you.” Billy said softly so that Rosa and Victor couldn’t hear him. Freddy just tightens his grip for a moment.

“That is unexpected.” Rosa whispers softly to Victor, rubbing at her wet eyes, but a smile was on her face. Freddy shakes his head, stepping back and sitting down on the chair again. Billy seems a bit overwhelmed by the attention.

“Dude, why did you run away in the first place?” Freddy asks, and Rosa’s smile slowly weakens, sending a concerned look towards Billy. The latter fidgets with the device around his finger, gnawing at his lip.

“I-I…-” He stops himself, glancing at Rosa. “Mo-... Rosa?” He stammers, tips of his ears burning at the slipup. Rosa could guess what he wanted to say… _mom_. And perhaps that’s what she wanted to hear, but she knew better than to press. Rosa grasps Victor’s hands in a gentle grip.

“Do you remember when we were talking about the father of the Bryers?” Victor nods hesitantly, but both him and Freddy were seemingly confused. “Billy heard us talking, and I guess he didn’t hear everything except when we were talking about their father, _William,_ being dangerous to our kids.”

It took a few seconds before a look of understanding dawned down on Victor’s face, and he immediately glances at Billy as if he was hoping for Billy to tell him his thoughts were wrong, that it wasn’t _that_ that made him run away.

“Wait, I don’t get it.” Freddy frowns, but Billy made absolutely no move to clear things up.

“Billy’s full name is William honey.” Rosa quietly clarified. Billy glances at Freddy, obviously nervous and gauging his brother’s reaction. It took a few seconds for understanding to dawn down on Freddy’s face.

“You idiot!” He almost screeches, slapping Billy’s arm. “You’re never getting rid of us Batson. You’ll be old and grey, and begging for us to leave you but we never will.” Freddy says, a grin on his fact that didn’t fully reach his eyes. There was a hint of hurt, or fear, behind those eyes.

Billy looks back at Freddy, shaking his head. “I don’t want to you leave.” He admits softly, and Freddy quiets down for a second, before a sly smile appears on his face.

“First sensible thing you’ve said all day.”

*

*

*

“Call me if you need anything okay?” Rosa asks. “I’ll be right outside of you need me, so if-”

“Mom, my leg is messed up, my mind isn’t.” Freddy deadpans, and he almost expected the snort from Billy, something he’d often do when they were bantering together. But this time, the boy stayed silent.

“Just making sure honey.” Rosa smiles, cupping Billy’s chin for a second, and the latter gives Rosa a reassuring smile before she lets him go. The two boys quietly watch Rosa leave the room. Victor had already left a while back so he could pick up the rest of the kids, only leaving the three of them in the room.

But Rosa could see that her two boys needed some time alone, Billy was still in awe how well Rosa seemed to be able to read him sometimes.

“Rosa said the blue superhero found me.” Billy was surprisingly the first one to speak up. Freddy nods.

“We all went out in like teams, but we were with an odd number so I went out alone. The rest went home eventually but I just couldn’t y’know?” Freddy rants, fiddling with his hands. “I found you behind that dumpster, half frozen. I thought you were gonna die dude.”

“I know-”

“No I don’t think you do Billy, do you know what it’s like seeing your _brother_ turning blue from the cold, unresponsive. I don’t think you know what it’s like holding your brother in your arms while he’s _dying_ , and you can’t do anything about it but get help somewhere else.”

“I’m really sorry Freddy.” Billy murmurs, and Freddy sighs, nodding in defeat.

“I know you are, I was just really worried and it’s not fair to take that out on you. It’s just… I _know_ you are.” Billy frowns slightly at that, a worried look on his face.

“Did you… y’know back in the day?” Billy asks softly.

“Run away you mean? No I didn’t but I probably would’ve if it weren’t for my messed up leg.” Freddy shook his head. “I know Mary did twice in the beginning, but she didn’t really have anywhere to run to, and she was still pretty young when mom and dad took her in so she came back pretty quickly.” Freddy shrugs slightly.

“It’s not like I had somewhere to go either.” Billy says, but Freddy frowns.

“Dude we all get that. You used to have, so you never allowed yourself to like settle down, and I know you had some pretty shitty the experiences with some foster parents.”

“Some of them, but I also ran away from good people.” Billy mutters, and Freddy could see that he was trying to downplay his trauma, wanting Freddy to believe that it wasn’t as bad as Freddy has seen and heard from his, their, parents.

“Doesn’t mean it sucked any less.” Freddy shook his head. “Just… we get it Billy, you’ve been screwed over too many times and you don’t want to believe that we can, want to, give you a good home, but we do. We all want you around, and yea you can be a bit of an asshole sometimes but we all have our moments, and at least you have a good excuse.”

“I’m not ... _good_ with all of this. I don’t know how to act like a brother, or a son.” Billy muttered, but before Freddy could respond, the door to the room suddenly opened again.

“Billy.” Darla’s voice was soft, so unlike the little girl Billy had come to know. The boy glances at the little girl, suddenly at a loss for words.

“Hey.” Freddy calls out softly, and Darla made her way over to Freddy, and the latter reaches out, pressing the little girl closer to her side. Her eyes were only on Billy, worry so clear it made Billy swallow thickly. He didn’t even look at Rosa entering the room as well, and the rest was probably still outside.

Darla whimpered softly. “It looks scary.” She says, and it was clear to everyone what Darla was talking about, all the wires and machines that were currently connected to Billy. The IV connected to his left arm, the wires coming from under his gown, and the white finger sensor on his right hand.

Not to mention how pale Billy still looked, eyes sunken and red, cannula still in his nose.

“It’s okay Darla, they’re to help him.” Freddy whispers, pressing a quick kiss to the head of his little sister. Rosa goes to stand besides them, putting both hands on either shoulder and crouching down.

“Freddy is right, I know they look scary but they’re helping him.” Darla didn’t seem convinced at all.

“Do you want to come up here?” Billy asks suddenly, causing everyone to look up.

“Can I?” Darla asks, a sudden hopeful look on her face. Rosa glances at Billy for a moment, as if she was trying to ask him if that was really okay, like _he_ hadn’t been the one to offer it. But Billy nods nevertheless, which was enough for Rosa. She gently lifts up the little girl, setting her down on the bed.

She crawls towards Billy’s side, curling up against him. Billy wraps his arm around her, mindful of the cord connecting the finger sensor to one of the many machines.

“Do you still have Mr. Tawky?” Darla asks softly, and Billy frowns until Rosa reaches out to grasp the stuffed tiger.

“He has been keeping Billy safe.” Rosa smiles but Darla glances at him, as if she wanted to hear it from _him_ and no one else. Billy gives her a reassuring smile without hesitation, the smile still a bit weak but genuine nonetheless.

“He’s been watching over me.” Billy agrees, and Darla’s eyes fill with tears, taking the stuffed tiger from her mom and putting it between her and Billy.

“He will keep you safe until you get better.” Darla muttered, curling up a little tighter and putting her head on his shoulder. Freddy smirks knowingly, catching Billy’s eyes, Billy’s words still ringing in his head. _I don’t know how to act like a brother, or a son._ He shook his head mentally.

“I think you already figured it out dude.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 10 comments for an extra chapter on Wednesday. Comments will be used to help me get over my lost Duolingo streak :(
> 
> Update: ItsyBitsyBatsySpider drew an amazing picture from this chapter! It's on her Tumblr; Billybatsontrash. Definitely check it out cause it's amazing!!


	8. Chapter 8

Billy had no idea how long it had been when he blinked his eyes open again. His vision blurred for a moment, and he carefully brought his hand up to rub at his eyes, only to stop when he brushed against .. _something_ that was in between his arm and his face, something big.

Billy frowns slightly, using his other arm, and careful not to pull out the needle that was still in his skin, to rub at his eyes. The hospital room quickly came into focus again, and he glances to the right to see Darla still pressed up tightly against his side, eyes closed and breathing softly against him.

Her glasses were on the nightstand next to the bed.

“She didn’t want to leave you side.” A voice said, and Billy glances up to see Mary standing in front of the window, looking up from her phone.

“What time is it?” Billy asks, still feeling a bit sleepily.

“Quarter past 1.” Mary says, walking over to his side and sitting down. “Mom and dad are home with the rest.”

“They finally managed to drag Freddy home?” Billy snorts and Mary chuckles.

“Took a lot of convincing.” Mary smiles, and Billy shakes his head, sinking back into the pillows again. “How are you feeling?” She asks, and Billy closes his eyes for a moment, as if it would help him realise just _how_ he was feeling.

“Still tired I guess, but better.” Billy shrugs carefully, not wanting to wake up Darla in the process. “Have they told you how long I’m going to be here? As comfortable as the bed is, the wires and machines aren’t.” Billy says, lifting his left arm to show the IV that was still sticking out of his skin.

Mary nods knowingly. “The doctor said because your temperature was below 89,9 degrees they have to keep you in the hospital for at least 24 hours. So you’ll probably be here until tomorrow morning at least.” Mary says, and Billy groans, rolling his eyes.

“At least tell me you brought something to entertain me with.” Billy mutters and Mary smiles, pulling out her iPad. “You’re the best.” Billy laughs, taking the iPad from her carefully, because Darla was still sleeping against his side, and starting up the screen.

“I downloaded a few games, if you want to play some?” Mary asks, and Billy nods, flicking through the apps with his left hand. Mary stands up to walk over to the other side of the bed instead, sitting down directly besides her little brother, instead of having Darla in between them.

Billy flushes slightly, an embarrassed look on his face.

“I don’t really recognise any of them.” He mumbles, almost too embarrassed to look at Mary.  A look of pity crosses her face, the exact same look Billy hated so much. It only made him realise how much he stood out in this family, how much he didn’t actually belong with them as much as he wanted to.

And how little he knew about belonging to a family.

Mary gently takes the iPad from his grasp, looking at the screen for a few moments before selecting one. “It’s Yahtzee, it’s Victor’s favourite actually.” Mary says, handing back the tablet and shuffling the chair until she was sitting directly next to him and they could both see the screen at the same time.

“I’ll explain as we go along, it’s very easy.” Mary continues, rolling the dices on the screen. Billy listened closely as Mary explained the rules of the game, picking up two fives she had rolled before rolling again. She smiles softly as another five appeared, but not rolling another one.

Billy rolled after her, listening as Mary gave him advice at what to do, and what dice to pick.

“You know why this is Victor’s favourite game?” Mary asks as Billy ‘pick up’ two dice from the screen to put them aside. Billy looks up at her, shaking his head. “You can’t really cheat with this game, so this is one of the few games we can play without a fight breaking out about cheating or even rules.”

“That bad?” Billy chuckles softly, and Mary nods.

“You have no idea how many times I’ve read the rules of monopoly or Uno, give it a few more weeks and I have them memorised.” Mary rolls her eyes, and Billy smiles at the thought of Mary having to read the instructions of the game when there was disagreement between two of his siblings.

Probably Freddy most of the time.

“Can we do that when I get out?” Billy asks shyly, and Mary glances at him. “I mean, not the arguing, but playing the games.” He adds, and Mary smiles broadly.

“Of course Billy, I don’t even know why we didn’t have such an evening before.” Mary says but Billy shrugs slightly.

“It’s been a busy two weeks I guess.” He says, rolling the dice on the screen again. Mary nods at the statement, watching him collect the dice, only a hint of hesitation but Mary gave him an encouraging smile. He was picking up fast on the game, and the slight smile on his face told the girl that he was enjoying himself right now.

“Hey Billy?” Mary asks suddenly, and Billy glances up at her. “You know you can always come to me when you need someone to talk to right?” She continues, and a frown crosses Billy’s features, his nose scrunching up slightly. Mary would almost describe it as cute.

“I mean, I guess?” He says softly. “Why?”  Mary sighs, putting a gentle hand on his to stop him from throwing the dice again.

“I was just thinking… mom told me why you ran away, hope you don’t mind by the way,” she stops but Billy shrugs, he didn’t really mind her telling Mary. “I don’t think you would’ve _just_ walked away when you heard it, not if you felt at home here.”

“Meaning?” Billy swallows thickly.

“I don’t know, but I know you want to stay with us, you said so yourself, and then you run away yourself. And I know you overheard mom and dad but… why didn’t you wait for them to tell you? Why did you just accept what they were saying and run away before your case worker could pick you up?” Mary stops, frowning slightly. “Not like mom and dad ever would, but assuming they’d call her.” She clarifies.

Billy swallows again, it almost felt like there was something stuck in his throat, something that didn’t want to go away.

“After being sent away a couple of times, you get tired of it,” Billy whispers, not daring to look Mary in the eyes. “And you just learn to run away before they can kick you out because it hurts less.” Billy tries to shrug, but for some reason he couldn’t get himself to move, muscles almost locking up, mouth suddenly dry.

Mary’s eyes soften. “You really thought they would turn you away?”

“I don’t know what to think Mary, I know they won’t… and maybe I don’t…” Billy swallows thickly. “I don’t know what I was thinking, I just… I couldn't handle the thought of being kicked out of the first place I wanted to stay…. where I felt home.” Mary gently squeezes his hand, and Billy finally dares to look up. He could almost cry when he saw her eyes was filled with nothing but compassion. There was no judgement in them, or anything negative.

“Was this the first time you felt like this?”

“Fear getting kicked out?” Billy asks, and Mary nods. The boy frowns, glancing down again and gnawing at his lip. There was a silent moment before Billy shook his head, even if Billy knew this came as no surprise to Mary. She seemed to be able to read him so perfectly, like Rosa did as well.

“How many times did you?” Mary presses, and Billy hesitantly lifts his head.

“Every day?” He says, almost as if he was asking instead of staying a fact. Mary remained calm, but Billy could see something cross her face, an emotion he couldn’t quite name.

“I’m sorry the world made you feel like that Billy. I don’t know what it’s like, because Rosa and Vic took me in first, but I understand.” Tears slowly welled up in Billy’s eyes, and Mary could feel her heart tear a little inside. “And I know it doesn’t solve anything but we won’t kick you out, we all want you.”

The tears started to run down Billy’s cheeks, and he furiously rubbed them away.

“I just don’t want to feel weird anymore, or scared in my own house. Every time you guys do something fun I just don’t know how to act, or seem like the odd one out. When Rosa shows those little affections and I don’t notice it before.. I just flinch. I flinch away from her Mary.” He sobs, vision blurring from the tears.

“And when Darla hugs me I just freeze up, I get scared because of them, but I…. I don’t want her to stop, I don’t want any of you to stop. But I’m also afraid of them and…-” Billy stops himself, shaking slightly in the bed.

“You like Darla’s hugs?” Mary asks, a slight teasing undertone in her voice, and Billy can’t even be mad at her for that, actually feels a bit of his anxiousness fade away. “And here I thought you were just being a usual teenage boy.” Mary teases, and Billy shakes his head almost reluctantly.

“They show that you care, I guess I never had that before.” He mutters, game momentarily forgotten. “They scare me, and I’m afraid to do something wrong and they’ll kick me out, even if I know they won’t.. I’m still afraid they will, so I try to not show things, and I try not to get too loud, or be too present… “ Billy stops, shaking his head.

“Billy we _want_ you to be present, we want you to feel like you are part of this family.” Mary affirms. “ _I_ want you to act like my little brother, my annoying shitty brother who drives me crazy, takes my stuff, teases me relentlessly… and one I would never let anyone harm.” Mary says, and Billy glances up.

He almost can’t seem to find the words to say. “You mean that?”

“Just don’t tell Freddy, he’ll drive me nuts before the day is over.” Mary smiled, nudging Billy gently. “And if you want we can talk to the rest about those unexpected touches. If they know they will avoid scaring you.”

“But I don’t want them to stop.” Billy whispers, and Mary shakes her head with a soft smile.

“They won’t Billy. Were you scared when Darla got onto the bed?” She asks, and Billy shook his head. “Why weren’t you?” Billy frowns for a moment, and Mary could basically see the wheels turning in his head.

“I told her she could, I knew she was going to.” Billy says slowly, and Mary beams.

“Exactly.” She smiles, face softening slightly again. “Touch is scary, especially if you have bad experiences with them, but they don’t _have_ to be. Not when you know they won’t hurt you.” She says, reaching out and gently grabbing his hand. She brushed her thumb over the back of his hand.

And Mary was right, the touch didn’t scare him.  

Billy was about to open his mouth when Darla suddenly sneezed next to him, twice. It was an adorable little sound but she didn’t wake at them. Billy snorted.

“How has she not woken up yet?” Billy almost laughs, and Mary shakes her head with a smile on her face.

“Darla’s a deep sleeper, and she’s probably exhausted from last night. We didn’t come home until midnight.” Mary says, looking at Darla with a fond smile on her face.

“How did you end up with Victor and Rosa?” Billy asks softly, causing Mary to gaze down at her own hands. “I-if’s that’s okay.” Billy stammers, but Mary shakes her head with a faint smile on her face.

“It’s okay, it’s only fair that you know.”

“Just because you know my story doesn’t mean you have to-” Billy tries to add quickly, but Mary smiles at him, the same sad smile she just showed, squeezing his hand.

“It’s okay Billy.” Mary interrupts his ramblings. “I want you to know.”

“Are you sure?” Billy asks one last time but Mary doesn’t react, taking a deep breath.

“My mother… wasn’t really a good mother at all. She never really wanted me, so she just kinda left me alone. I didn’t really know better, and whenever she was around she would just yell at me so I was glad when she left me alone.” Mary shrugged, but Billy could see it was bothering her to talk about it.

“When I was around 9, I don’t really remember when, she got another boyfriend. It wasn’t her first, but it was the first that didn’t allow me to just go to my room whenever he was home.” She continued, not looking at Billy. “He made me do all the chores to earn my right to stay there, or something.” She shrugs.

“And your mother?” Billy asks, almost too afraid to do so. Mary chuckles darkly.

“She went along with it, agreed with him.” She says. “So I cleaned the house, helped with dinner, made him coffee, and one day I was just… he was in a bad mood and started yelling, so I ran to the bathroom and he started threatening to hurt me with a belt.”

A low whimper escapes Billy’s throat, and Mary glances at her little brother.

“He demanded I let him in, but I wasn’t having it, so I left through the window onto the fire escape and ran away.” She mutters. “I wandered the streets for the day, but the police eventually found me and took me home to Rosa and Victor.” She finishes softly, fiddling with her hands.

Billy was silent, not knowing what to say to her. How could he say something without sounding like a complete idiot? Eventually, Mary decided for him. She takes a shaky breath, laughing through the tears and brushing them away with both hands.

“I mean it took me awhile to accept everything, but I’m glad I ran away. I wouldn’t trade any of you for the world.” Mary says, and Billy looks down, biting his lip. It was silent for a moment before Mary reaches out for his hand. “That includes you silly.” She chuckles and Billy dares to look up again.

“Why?” He asks, voice almost too soft to be audible. Mary cups his chin, and Billy is too shocked to move away.

“Don’t sell yourself short, little brother.” She murmurs, and Billy could practically feel his heart burst, and he can’t help the stupid grin from forming on his face.

_Little brother._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much fluff! And some more backstory for Mary, cause she deserves it. I truly hope they include the deleted scene with her in the DVD, cause I'm living for Mary and Billy acting like siblings.  
> As always, 10 comments for an extra chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

“Hey mom?” Freddy spoke up, not looking up from his cards. The boy was currently sitting on the bed, his bad leg stretched out and the other leg wrapped under himself as if he was sitting cross legged, but with one leg. Rosa hummed softly, and only then did Freddy lift his gaze up to look at her.

“What’s up?” Rosa asks, looking up from her own cards.

“Are you still gonna go all angry momma bear on the Bryers?” He asks, turning back to his cards and switching one for one of the cards that was on the table positioned over Billy hospital bed. Billy also glances up at Rosa for a moment, still leaning back against the pillows propped up against the bed.

It was still scary to see him in the bed, surrounded by so many machines, but he looked so much better.

Rosa chuckles softly at the question. “If you mean I’m going to force the principal to punish the boys, then yes.” Rosa affirms. “They hurt you, both of you. I won’t let that happen again.” She adds softly, putting a gentle hand on Freddy’s outstretched leg and squeezing it carefully without hurting him.

It was already dark outside, and only Rosa, Victor and Freddy were still left at the hospital, the rest of the siblings all at home already and getting ready for bed, or in the case of Pedro and Mary, getting the younger siblings ready for bed.

Freddy shrugs slightly. “It would be nice if they didn’t pick on me anymore.” He muses, and Rosa frowns just slightly, shaking her head softly. But before she could respond, someone walked into the room.

“Good evening.” Someone suddenly interrupted their chat, and all four of them looked up at the nurse walking back into the room. “It’s almost 8 pm, so visiting hours will be over soon.” She announces, almost reluctant to do so. She glances between Rosa and Victor carefully but they both nod.

“Guess we’ll never know who won.” Freddy shook his head, putting his cards down on the table. Billy smiles softly.

“We can finish the game at home. If you’re not scared.” Billy teases, putting his cards on the table, displaying his cards. Freddy rolls his eyes at the cards, pulling them towards himself to gather up all of them.

“Me? Scared?” Freddy challenges. “Never Batson, just remember that I went easy on you cause you’re in the hospital.” Freddy teases, and Billy snorts.

“Whatever makes you feel better.” He laughs, sticking out his tongue. Freddy does the same, laughing as he swings his good leg over the edge of the bed and carefully slides off the bed. Victor is immediately there to give him his crutch, which Freddy gratefully accepts,  and propping it under his elbow.

“When will he be able to go home?” Victor asks, glancing at the nurse. She was still standing there patiently, a kind smile on her face.

“I cannot say for sure but Billy’s doing well, I think he’ll be able to go home tomorrow morning.” She says, and Billy lets out a relieved breath, leaning back against the pillows. _One more night_ he muses silently in his head.

“And the machines? Do they have to stay on?” Rosa asks, reaching out and tugging a loose strand of hair behind Billy’s ear. “They’re really loud, it makes falling asleep a bit hard.” She further clarifies, and the nurse nods knowingly.

“I’m afraid I can’t take them off just yet, I’ll have to get approval from the doctor, but I was going to remove your nasal cannula, your oxygen level has been restored to its normal levels. If you want I can get you some earplugs and if your parents allow some medication that makes you fall asleep.”

“If it’s safe.” Victor says, but the question was all too obvious.

“I can give him some zolpidem, or ambien, generally there aren’t any side effects when taken in a low dose, but there can be.” Rosa gently reaches out to Billy, grasping his hand.

“It’s your choice honey.” She says, and Billy waits just for a second before he turns to the nurse.

“Yes please.” He says, and the nurse smiles politely.

“I will make sure to come by before the night to give you the medicine.” She says, walking over to the free spot next to Billy’s bed. “There is also a pull down bed for you Mrs. Vasquez, If you want I can help you set that up.” She continues, eyeing at the spot in the wall, but Rosa nods.

“I think I can do that myself, but thank you for offering.” Rosa says softly, knowing what the nurse was talking about. The doctor had also informed her of the pull down bed that was hidden in the wall next to Billy’s bed, but she had declined back then because she didn’t even think she could peacefully sleep.

And she’d rather watch over Billy in case he woke up. But right now, she could feel the exhaustion pulling her down, and Billy was awake, and doing well.

The nurse in the meantime turned the oxygen flow off that was coming from the wall, disconnecting the device entirely before turning to Billy. She gently tugs on the strap tightening the cannula under the chin, before taking it out completely and putting it away from Billy.

“Does that feel okay?” The nurse asks, and Billy takes an almost hesitant breathing, before nodding. “You know how to contact me if it doesn’t.” The nurse says, pointing at the buttons at the side of Billy’s bed, one of which was to contact the nurse. The nurse gives one last look to the rest of them, before leaving.

“I guess that means we have to go as well.” Victor murmurs, wrapping his arms around Rosa from the back, who was definitely staying with Billy for the night. “You’ll be alright here?” He asks, putting his chin on her left shoulder, and Rosa nods.

“I will, Mary brought some extra clothes and my toiletries so I’ll be fine.” She says, putting a gently hand on his left cheek. “Will you be okay with getting the kids ready for school tomorrow?” She teases, and Victor smiled.

“Don’t worry about that.” He assures her and Rosa kisses his right cheek before Victor pulls away, walking over to Billy and putting a careful but firm hand on his shoulder. “You’ll be alright for tonight bud?” Victor asks, gaze towards Billy.

“I have Rosa keeping me company.” Billy smiled.

“You’re lucky he doesn’t snore by the way.” Freddy says, eyeing at his mom.

“Unlike you?” Billy retorts, and Freddy rolls his eyes, walking up to Billy’s side again.

“You know you miss my snoring.” Freddy tries, and Billy huffs out a laugh. “No but seriously, it’s empty without you dude, hope you get better soon.” He says, and Billy could see how awkward the younger boy felt right now, he didn’t _know_ how to deal with Billy in a hospital bed other than ignoring the problem mostly.

Billy actually liked that Freddy didn’t know, because he didn’t want them treating him like he was made of glass.

He appreciated Freddy still making his stupid jokes, still teasing him and rambling like an idiot while they both just ignored the situation as much as they could. And maybe ignore wasn’t the best word to use, temporarily forget, not focusing too much on it, or any other variation you could think of.

Freddy wasn’t dismissing the situation, but he wanted to make him feel better instead of focusing on the negatives too much.

“Well I take your snoring over these machines every day.” Billy quipped light-heartedly, and Freddy grins. The grin weaker than it usually was but still genuine. “See you tomorrow?” He eventually asks.

“You bet dude.” Freddy nods, glancing back at Victor, who just motions for him to come along. Freddy does so, waving one last time before exiting the room and leaving Billy alone with Rosa.

They spend the next few hours chatting occasionally but mostly passing the times by either playing games or just doing things on their own. Billy was glad Mary had brought enough to pass the time, and he couldn’t believe how much he was enjoying all the games she had brought as well.

“I think-” Rosa starts after a long silence, closing her book. “It’s time for bed. Don’t you think, mi amor?” She adds, and Billy glances up at her. Billy chuckles, rubbing his eyes.

“Yeah, that might be a good idea.” Billy says. He could feel fatigue pulling him down for quite some time, but he didn’t want to say anything. He was glad Rosa did.

“I’ll get the nurse so she can help you.” She says, standing up and pressing the button to call for the nurse before Billy could stop her. He groans, sinking back into the pillows. Rosa laughs light-heartedly. “Unless you want to make the trip to the bathroom yourself.”

Billy groans again. “I’d rather take my chances.” He mutters, but they both knew he didn’t mean it. Rosa chuckles, standing up.

“I’m gonna go brush my teeth and change,” She says. “Don’t be too harsh on the nurse.” Billy just rolls his eyes at the joke, watching as Rosa walks into the bathroom attaches to his room.

“You called?” The nurse quickly pokes her head into Billy’s room, and the younger boy nods. “I assume you want to get ready for bed right?”

“If It’s not too much trouble.” Billy says, and the nurse chuckles with an amused look, walking over to his bed.

“That’s what I’m here for.” She teases him. “Is your breathing okay?” She asks again, but Billy just nods. Apart from the exhaustion he felt fine. The nurse smiles at that, checking his vitals quickly.

“Your mother is in the bathroom?” She asks, and Billy didn’t have the heart to correct her… and at the same time, what was he _supposed_ to correct? Rosa was more his mother than his biological mom ever was to him. And Billy wasn’t even surprised to realise that he already saw Rosa as his mom.

He just hoped she was okay with that.

As if on cue, Rosa exited the bathroom, wearing some comfortable clothing and hair wrapped in a loose bun.

“The doctor said I could remove the machines,” The nurse says, an amused smile spreading across her face. “And judging by your reaction you’re okay with that.” She smiled, and Billy nods again, glancing at the monitor.

“Do you need any help?” Rosa asks politely, but the nurse shook her head.

“It’s my job ma’am.” She chuckles, turning to Billy again. “If you want you can take a quick shower while I change your linen, if you’re up to it?” She asks.

“I could use a shower.” Billy shrugs softly, and the nurse nods, walking over to the heartbeat monitor and quietly working to shut it off and disconnecting it from Billy. Rosa in the meantime pulled out the bed, getting ready as well. The nurse took the pads from Billy’s chest, disregarding them.

She then gently took out the IV line, keeping the needle itself in still, and the monitor clip around his finger as well.

“Let’s get you up.” She says, gently helping him up. Billy allowed his legs to fall over the edge of the bed, waiting for a moment. The nurse waited patiently, but Billy eventually stood up. His legs were still a little shaky but he managed to stand on his own, so they both took that as a good sign.

Rosa watched silently as Billy made his way over to the bathroom, the nurse besides him. She opened the door so Billy could enter.

“Don’t lock the door, and let me know if you need any help. And if you feel dizzy, or anything, tell me, okay?” The nurse asks, and Billy nods. The nurse walks over to the shower, turning it on and waiting for a moment and allowing the water to warm up before she gave the okay signal to Billy.

She quickly walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door to allow Billy some privacy. She grabbed some clean sheets from the room, walking back to the bed to change the ones that were currently on the bed. Rosa listened silently as the shower continued to run for a while, but not ridiculously long before it stopped.

Rosa continued to watch as the nurse completed changing the sheets on Billy’s bed before the sound of the door opening echoed through the room.

The nurse immediately put away the dirty sheets, walking over to Billy. He seemed to be steadier on his feet, but still looked very tired. His hair was damp, and he was wearing a clean hospital gown and blue pants that she had left in the bathroom.

“How was the shower?” Rosa smiles softly as the nurse helps Billy onto the bed again.

“The best.” Billy smiled contently, allowing the nurse to reinsert the IV line again. Rosa stood up to walk over to Billy’s side. The nurse made way for Rosa, allowing her to sit on the bed.

“That’s good.” Rosa laughs, ruffling Billy’s wet hair. Billy chuckles, swatting her hands away light-heartedly.

“Take these, they should help you fall asleep.” The nurse softly, almost hesitantly, interjects, holding up one pill and a glass of water. Rosa gently takes them from her, giving the pill to Billy so he could pop it in his mouth, taking the glass of water to wash it down.

“If there is anything you need, my colleague James will be taking over my shift in 20 minutes but don’t be afraid to ask.” The nurse says, and Rosa nods politely.

“Thank you.” Billy whispers, and the nurse smiles gently before she shut off the lights. She then left the room, softly pulling the door shut behind her, and leaving Rosa alone with Billy again. Rosa gently brushes Billy’s hair out of his face, smiling fondly at Billy. The sight was so foreign to Billy that he couldn’t get himself to move.

He watched Rosa silently, almost too afraid to breathe.

He didn’t want to ruin the moment, mess up again to scare Rosa away, do something that would make her see he just really wasn’t worth it. He wasn’t worth Rosa missing work, he wasn’t worth her time, he wasn’t worth her missing sleep over. He just wasn’t worth all the worry he was causing her.

But he couldn’t pull away, couldn’t deny how much he _craved_ the touch.

Eventually Rosa dropped her hand, and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “You’re loved Billy, don’t doubt that.” She smiled, the same fond smile that had been on her face when he had told her he wanted to stay with them, the warm smile that Billy had grown to love so much in the short time he had been here.

Billy fiddles with his hands, gnawing at his lips before he slowly dared to look up.

“Rosa?” He asks, and Rosa tilts her head slightly, waiting patiently. “Would you stay until I fall asleep?” He asks, rubbing at his eyes. He could feel the medicine slowly settling in, pulling him down and making his body beg for him to go to sleep. Rosa didn’t answer at first, and for a second he could feel fear rush through him.

He was about to take back the request, say she didn’t have to when she silently nodded. She gently laid down next to him, on top of the blankets. She wraps her arm around him, and he lays his head on her shoulder.

“I didn’t want to run away… you know that right?” Billy whispers softly, not looking up at her. Rosa gently carts her fingers through his hair, nodding. “I thought you wanted me-.. that you thought I was-” Billy stops himself, and Rosa nods again.

“I know Billy, and I’m sorry you overheard that. We wouldn’t say that about you, ever.” Rosa says softly. Billy breaths in, waiting for a moment.

“I kn’w.” The reply sounded sleepy, almost non-coherent.

“We love you Billy, I love you. You’re my son just like the others.”

“Ev’n Darla and M’ry?” Billy says, and Rosa chuckles, kissing the top of his head for a quick second.

“Smartass.” She chuckles, and Billy releases a shaky breath. “You’re all my kids, and I love you all equally. So so much.” Rosa affirms, but Billy didn’t respond anymore. Rosa could hear his soft breathing, and Rosa was almost certain that Billy was already asleep besides her.

Probably a combination of the medicine and the general exhaustion. Rosa smiles, allowing herself to relax as well.

“Goodnight, mi amor.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh.... this chapter just didn’t want to be written, I’m still not entirely satisfied but oh well. Hope you enjoyed nevertheless!   
> Comments are always welcome! (✿◕ 𐤿◕)


	10. Chapter 10

“You know there’s a big chance Rosa will be mad at both of us for doing this?” Victor mentions, keeping his eyes in front.

“Don’t worry dad,” Freddy chuckles.”I’ll just tell her it was your idea.”

“You would throw me under the bus like that?” Victor fakes hurt. “My poor old heart.” Victor clutches his heart with one heart, sending a desperate look Freddy’s way. The younger boy just grins, rolling his eyes.

“She won’t be mad at us.” Freddy says nonchalantly. “I think.” He adds almost hesitantly, throwing a glance towards Victor.

“We will accept whatever punishment she sees fit.” Victor smiled, adjusting the grip on the steering wheel. They were currently on their way to the hospital to pick up Billy and Rosa from the hospital. It was still pretty early, but both of them wanted to get to the hospital as early as possible.

So after making sure Mary could handle bringing the rest to school, Victor had gone to the car.

Only to have Freddy waiting for him, saying he wanted to come with to the hospital. Victor didn’t have the heart to tell Freddy he had to go school when they were picking up Billy. It was obvious to everyone, including Victor and Rosa, how close Billy and Freddy had become in the last weeks.

They had become brothers, best friends.

So Victor had reluctantly agreed to let Freddy come along, and Victor knew his son too well. Freddy wouldn’t be able to concentrate at all during school, better to let him get one day off. Freddy’s grades were good, he could afford to miss a day. So after telling Mary, and calling the school, they had stepped into the car.

It didn’t take them long to reach the hospital, and Victor parked the car as close to the entrance as he could. They both walked the now all too familiar route towards the right floor, and the right room. The door was still closed, but there wasn’t any sign that they couldn’t enter, so Victor knocked softly before opening the door.

Victor stopped as he walked in, a smile etching onto his face and turning to Freddy.

For a second Freddy was confused why Victor was smiling like a madman, until his father pointed at the hospital bed in the room, and he snickers at the sight.

Rosa was now under the blankets, lying on her back with an arm wrapped around Billy’s still form, both still fast asleep. Billy was curled up against Rosa, his head on her arm. There was a calm look on his face, as if he had nothing to worry about and that he was perfectly safe with Rosa.

_Which he was_ Freddy muses, walking over to the bed.

Or at least, that’s what he wanted to do, but Victor quickly stops him.

“What?” Freddy asks softly, and Victor grins, taking out his phone.

“Taking a picture.” Victor says, snapping a quick picture of the sight in front of them. Freddy waits patiently, an amused smile on his face. Victor was just able to take one picture before Rosa blinks her eyes open, turning to look at the noise. A smile forms on her face as she sees them.

“Hey.” Rosa murmurs, voice filled with sleep. Victor smiles, walking over to her. Rosa extends her free hand and Victor grasps it gently.

“Morning beautiful.” Victor chuckles, a bright smile on his face. Rosa closes her eyes for a moment, shifting on the spot and carefully dislodging her arm from under Billy’s head. “Did you sleep well?” Victor continues, sitting down on the chair next to the hospital bed, pulling it towards him so he was near.

Freddy walks over to the bed, and Rosa smiles at him, pulling herself up slightly so she was sitting up. Billy murmured something incoherent, but not waking up.

“How are you?” Rosa asks, reaching out for the curly haired boy. He sits down on the edge of the bed, and Rosa gently tugs at a loose strand of hair.

“A little worried.” Freddy shrugs slightly, and Rosa nods absently. She was about to say something else, when Billy suddenly shifted next to Rosa, blinking his eyes open. “Morning sleeping beauty.” Freddy chuckles, and for a moment Billy seems confused as to where he was right now.

His tired, green eyes roamed through the room for a second, going from Rosa and Victor, before the eventually settled on Freddy. He lets out a scoff, closing his eyes again just for a second, rubbing his eyes.

“Who thought it was a good idea to bring him?” Billy murmurs, pushing himself upwards. Rosa smiles, wrapping her arm back around Billy again.

“Play nice.” She jokes and Billy rolls his eyes. “Did you sleep well?” She asks, and it was then that Billy suddenly seemed to realise _how_ he had fallen asleep. His face turns red slightly, and he groans. Victor chuckles at his reaction, a low sound seemingly vibrating through the room.

And yet so calming to Billy.

“Thanks for staying.” Billy eventually decides, and Rosa smiles brightly, planting a kiss on temple. Billy splutters, letting out a sound between laughter and embarrassment.

“Iewl mom.” Billy mutters, rubbing his temple as Rosa finally releases him. Rosa just smiles warmly at him. “Can I just go home already?” He continues, and Rosa hums next to him, nodding.

“We should get a nurse so we can see if you can.” She muses, but Victor already reaches over to push the button to call for a nurse. Freddy glances at Billy again, trying to stop his surprise from showing on his face. He didn’t even know if Billy realised what he just said, and maybe he had.

_Mom_ , that’s that Billy had called Rosa.

But Freddy doesn’t say anything, fear that it would embarrass Billy, and cause him to _not_ do it anymore or something. Freddy knew there was a big possibility that he wouldn’t if called out on it, which just broke his heart even more. That someone would be too screwed over in life that he was afraid to call someone _mom_.

Freddy was eventually pulled out of his thoughts when the door softly opened, a different nurse than yesterday walking in.

“Good morning.” The nurse smiles, walking over to the bed. “You called?” He continues, and Rosa nods, sitting up completely.

“We wanted to know if Billy can go home today.” Rosa says, and the nurse hums knowingly, smiling.

“Billy Batson right?” He asks, and Billy nods before the nurse reaches for the chart that was at the end of the bed and glancing at the pages. There was a short silence for a moment, the nurse checking the chart, and occasionally glancing at the monitors behind Billy, before he put the chart on the bed.

“I’ll have to run a few tests but it looks good, if your vitals are okay, I reckon you can be discharged within an hour.” He spoke, and Billy releases a relieved breath, nodding gratefully. So for the next 10 minutes or so, the nurse ran a couple of small tests to make sure Billy was good enough to go home.

He measured blood pressure, took some blood and checked for things like iron. The oxygen level was checked, and some more tests that Billy had no idea what they were for. Freddy, Rosa and Victor stayed during them, never even showing any signs of _wanting_ to leave him alone right now.

For which Billy would be eternally grateful for.

It showed him that they truly cared for him. That their words weren’t just empty promises, things they could afford to say to him because they didn’t actually _have_ to sacrifice anything for him, not when it was all just lies. But they weren’t, they were here for him, just like they had promised.

The nurse carefully removed the needle from his hand, as did the clip on his finger so he was fully detached from everything, and wrapped a bandage around his wrist. His family only left him alone for a moment so Billy could change into some fresh clothes Victor had brought with him from home.

“Ready to go home?” Victor smiles broadly as he walks back in. Rosa walks over to him, crouching in front of him as he was sitting on the bed. He was watching her silently as she  reached for his hoodie, zipping it up gently before reaching for the jacket that they had also taken with them.

The brown jacket he had been wearing when Freddy found him wasn’t something Rosa wanted to give him right now.

“Can I go home?” Billy asks, looking at the nurse with an almost hopeful look.

“You can in a moment.” The nurse smiles, glancing at the clipboard. “You won’t have to take any medication once you get home, nor will we prescribing any. You can however safely take aspirins and ibuprofen, within reason of course. You’ll probably feel a bit weak the coming days, but if you’re up to it, you can resume your usual activities as planned.”

Billy groans. “You mean school.” He says, and the nurse chuckles.

“Only if you’re feeling up to it, but I’ll leave that to you and your family.” He smiles. “Remember to dress accordingly, especially in this cold weather.”

“Does he need to be more careful with the cold?” Victor asks, but the nurse shakes his head.

“Not necessarily. You should always be careful with the cold weather, but you don’t have to stay inside forever.” The nurse chuckles slightly, and Billy nods. “I don’t expect anything to go wrong, but if it does, or you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call. I have already given the number to your parents.”

Billy just glances at Rosa and Victor for a moment, who nod to confirm that was true.

“Keep the bandages on until tomorrow, and make sure you keep them clean.” Billy nods again, glancing at the bandages around his arms. one on his left arm and one around his wrist. He hadn’t been awake when they pumped out his blood, but the slight ache in his arm.. that he _did_ feel. He shook his head softly.

It took another 15 minutes before all the paper work was done and the head doctor officially discharged Billy.

“Let’s just get home first, okay?.” Rosa smiles brightly, and Victor wraps a firm arm around Billy, bringing him a little closer. Billy nods, a content look on his face as they all made their way out of the hospital, and towards the parking lot behind it where Rosa and Victor had parked the van.

Billy was glad the van was parked close by, he was still a little tired, and he would prefer to just get home and relax.

They eventually got back home, Victor parking the van in front of the house and getting out. He opened the door for Billy, helping him out of the van. Billy let him help him out, not having the energy, nor the want, to complain about the help. They all got inside of the home quickly, and Rosa guided Billy over to the couch.

“First of all, are you hungry?” Rosa asks as she throws a blanket over to Billy, who easily grabbed it out of the air before it could land on him. Billy nods.

“Starving.” It was almost noon already, and he hadn’t eaten much in the morning as the food in the hospital wasn’t the best. The thought of eating Rosa’s cooking, even if it was warming something up, already practically made his mouth water. Rosa smiles gently, disappearing from the room to walk into the kitchen.

Billy glances at Freddy as he walks over to him, something crumbled into his hand. The younger boy sits down on the couch, not waiting for an invitation before he throws his legs over Billy’s lap, crutch cluttering to the ground, but it didn’t seem like Freddy cared all that much about it right now.

“I found your note by the way.” Freddy mentions softly, uncurling his hand around the piece of paper, showing it to Billy. The older boy carefully grabs it from Freddy, untangling it. “You’re a big idiot, you know that right?” Freddy muses, and Billy frowns slightly as he glances at the note.

_I’m sorry._

That’s all he had been able to muster, or rather, that’s all he had permitted himself to keep on the note.

“I mean, at least it let us know that you weren’t coming back on your own, so I guess that’s a good thing.” Freddy shrugs. “But dude, we gotta work on your writing skills, that was just pathetic.” Billy swallows thickly, giving the note back to Freddy but the curly haired boy shakes his head.

He then proceeds to rip apart the paper, dropping it on the table next to the couch.

“We’ll have time to work on that.” Freddy shrugs, scooting downwards a little bit and putting a pillow behind his head. “Besides, you won’t have to write that note anymore, you’re stuck with us whether you want it or not.”

Billy glances down at his lap, fidgeting with his hands.

“I mean you do know we want you, right?” Freddy asks softly, almost hesitantly. Billy dares to glance at Freddy for a moment.

“I don’t know.” Billy whispers, voice so small and vulnerable. Freddy’s face falls at the mention. As if he suddenly realised that Billy was right, he didn't _know_. He spent 10 years unwanted, passed from family to family. And even if he was wanted, he didn’t allow himself to _be_ wanted.

“We want you Billy, we want to give you a home, Victor and Rosa want to care for you, why can’t you-”

“Freddy.” Rosa cuts in, stern but soft. Freddy stills, watching as Rosa walks over to the couch. She puts the bowl she was carrying on the table behind her for a moment, gently grabbing Billy’s hands. She didn’t even look at the red marks on them, from scratching too harshly.

Rosa only looks at Billy, the same warm smile on her face like she always had.

“Freddy’s right, but you don’t have to take his word for it, or ours.” Rosa whispers softly, taking a deep breath and shifting slightly on the spot. “Let us show you that we want to give you a home, give us a chance.” Tears jump in Billy’s, and he swallows thickly, almost as if he was having trouble with that simple action.

“I want to stay..” Billy murmurs, staring at Rosa with desperate eyes. “I just.. I can’t handle being sent away.. not again.” He shakes his head, and Rosa brings up one hand to Billy’s face, putting it on his cheek to stop him.

“I get that, before Victor I didn’t dare to trust so much, even if I had a nice family.” Rosa says softly. “And I know it’s scary to open up, because it allows you to get hurt. All I can ask of you is that you don’t run away again, how much you are willing to trust us, or to open up to is, is your decision.”

A sob tears from Billy’s throat. “I just don’t want to feel like a stranger anymore, I want to belong somewhere… but… but if my own mom didn’t want me… then why would anyone else?” Billy swallows thickly. “I just get into trouble, and I’m a burden to everyone-“

Rosa shakes her head, and Billy trails off. But never does she interrupt him, still keeping an eye on him. She smiles, a smile filled with so much warmth and yet so much hurt. Hurt for _him_ , Billy painfully realised.

“You’re not a burden, not any more than the rest are, and remember that we choose to take on that burden, we _want_ to.” She continues softly. “Are you familiar with the phrase ‘ _blood is thicker than water’_?”

Billy nods softly. “It was my favourite.” Billy whispers. “I always kept it in mind, to remind myself that my mom… that she loved me…. that she would forgive me for running away when I was four… but I guess I was just too naive..”

They all knew the story of Billy’s mom. He had told them a few days after the incident that he had met up with her, that he had found her. But he had told them as if it didn’t matter anymore, a matter of fact, a quick update. Almost as important as seeing an old friend on the street. Billy hadn’t allowed himself to show what he felt. Even if they all knew that Billy was upset, he never showed it. Until now.

“You’re still a kid Billy, you’re allowed to be. And nobody blames you for keeping hope. Darla still has hope, even Pedro did, even if they were both abandoned by their parents. They saw their parents willingly abandon them.” Rosa glances down. “Even I had hope that my dad would get me out one day. And it wasn’t until I met Victor that I realised that he wouldn’t. And that he didn’t deserve my hope in the first place.”

“But he’s your dad.” Billy chokes out, but it wasn’t accusation, it was confusion. Like a kid who was just told the most important rule could be broken in some cases, or that Santa Claus wasn’t real. Rosa nods, shifting slightly again.

“Blood is thicker than water they always tell you,” Rosa says, and Billy nods silently. “But it’s not true, the saying is wrong.”

Billy frowns. Rosa smiles at the sight, glancing at Freddy.

“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” Freddy clarifies. “It means that the bond between soldiers who fought in the war was stronger than genetic bonds they had with family.”

“It means-“ Rosa adds, looking at Billy again. “It means that blood doesn’t necessarily make family, and the bonds you create with others can be more valuable than biological ties.”

“I mean Rosa is my mom, even if she’s biologically not.” Freddy offers, and Rosa smiles fondly at him for a moment.

“Listen Billy, I’m not saying that biological ties mean nothing, or that you shouldn’t love your mom or be sad about it,” Rosa sighs. “All I’m saying is that we can be as much of a family to you as your biological parents could. We can give you a home, and a place you belong in.” 

Rosa took a deep breath again, and Billy could see faint tears lingering in her eyes.

“We can be your family, but only if you want us to.” Rosa adds softly, remaining focused on Billy for a little longer before turning around and reaching for the bowl behind her, and handing it over to Billy. “Te quori, mijo.” Rosa murmurs, kissing his hand quickly before standing up.

Billy is too stunned to reply, only able to gape. 

Freddy just smirks at his reaction, making himself a little more comfortable. Neither of the boys spoke, and at the same time, neither of them felt the need to speak. And while Billy turned on the TV to mindlessly watch something, he realised that he felt comfortable with Freddy next to him.

And they sat in comfortable silence until the rest returned from school.

Billy was glad that they didn’t immediately swarm him, courtesy of Rosa no doubt. They greeted him, but they went their own separate ways before they all, one for one, kept him company. And he soon realised that Mary was right, they would listen to him, they would be considerate of him. Back off when it got too much for him, and make him get used to having a family.

The only exception was Darla, who couldn’t really be subtle when it was finally her turn, but Rosa knew this probably, which is why Darla was last, when they had all eaten dinner already and she was already in her pyjamas. She had come barrelling straight into him, knocking the air from his lungs.

And yet…. he found himself not caring, laughing softly as the little girl wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his shoulder. He whispered soft words to her, especially when he noticed she was crying against him. Whether it was sadness or happiness… he didn’t know.

Probably a mixture of both. Being in the hospital had already scared him, and Darla was still so much younger than him. _He_ had probably scared her with how he looked, and where he was. But he pushed that thought away for a moment, Rosa had told him it wasn’t his fault, that he shouldn’t blame himself.

And for some reason… he believed her.

So he just wrapped his arms around his little sister, holding her close for as long as Darla wanted. Which is how Rosa and Victor found them right before bed. Billy was laying on the couch, head tilted almost awkwardly against the cushions, and Darla lying next to him, half on top of his chest.

Her head was tugged under Billy’s chin, and they were both sound asleep.

Billy hand was wrapped around Darla’s, as if he was afraid that she would leave him if he didn’t, _like his mom had left him_. But despite that thought, Rosa couldn’t help but smile. Billy had taken her hand as well when they were still in the hospital, to keep her close to him, to avoid being alone.

And Rosa quickly realised, that this was his way of showing he cared. A hand to keep the other person close, both for his own sake, but also so the other wouldn’t feel what he had felt 10 years okay. He had let go of his mom’s hand, and he didn’t want anyone, especially his family, to go through the same.

Victor and Rosa glanced at each other, bright smiles on their faces before Victor took out his phone, making another picture. Rosa chuckles, walking over to them and gently picking up Darla. The younger girl didn’t wake at the movement, mumbling something but remaining perfectly still, sound asleep.

Billy slowly blinks his eyes open, not moving from his position, but his hand closing absently. As if it was looking for something to hold onto, but it settled when his eyes focused on Darla, being safe in the arms of Rosa, before he glanced at Victor. 

“Hey bud.” Victor whispers, and Billy let’s out a soft ‘hey’ as well, voice sleepy and barely audible. “How about we get you upstairs?” He suggests, and for a moment Billy seems to just _not_ understand what Victor was asking before he nods, carefully sitting up on the couch and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Victor helps Billy up the stairs, a gentle yet strong hand on his back, a silent message that Victor was there for him. He climbed up the bunk bed, and Victor ruffled his hair affectionately, wishing both him and Freddy goodnight before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

“Night Freddy.” Billy whispers.

“You too man.” Freddy mumbles, already half-asleep himself. Billy closed his eyes, curling up on himself with a faint smile on his face. And for the first time since he came to this house, for the first time in 10 years, he felt safe, he allowed himself to fully relax. And while he still didn’t fully feel like this was his home…

… he allowed himself to hope that one day it could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much fluff, argh. Hope you guys liked it! There will be one last chapter/epilogue after this.


	11. Chapter 11

“Dude, it’s so good to have you back here, it was boring without you.” Freddy rambled as they walked through the hallways. Billy didn’t try to pay attention to the people glancing at him. They tried to be sneaky, and most didn’t even care enough to look at him, but Billy still saw it regardless.

“You skipped school Monday.” Billy deadpans, and Freddy gapes at him, almost as if he had been betrayed.

“But I was here yesterday, and I was all alone.” Freddy tries to defend himself, throwing an arm up in the air.

“Except for Mary and Pedro sitting with you.” Billy chuckles, shaking his head with an amused smile. It did feel good to be back at school, as much as he would’ve hated himself if he had said that a few months ago. Heck, even someone suggesting it a month ago would’ve gotten straight up ridicule.

He had always hated school, and it was a miracle he was still in.

“Irrelevant.” Freddy muses, but before he could continue someone came up to them, someone in Freddy’s history class.

“Hey Freddy.” He greets, but there was a slight worried look on his face. “I don’t know what you did, but the principal wants to speak with you… both of you.” He glances at Billy as well.

“Shit.” Freddy curses softly.

“What did you do?” Billy asks, but Freddy shrugs.

“I have no clue, at least, nothing that would lead me there, or you.” Freddy defends himself. Billy sighs, he was _not_ looking forwards to getting into trouble so soon after getting back. He hadn’t even attended one class since he got back from the hospital. And while he had only missed 2 days, he didn’t want to miss more.

The boy silently made their way over to the principal office, being led in by a secretary. Billy freezes at the sight in front of him, and for a second he could feel cold panic seize him. The principal was sitting behind his desk, the Bryer brothers in front of him and not looking at them right now.

Standing next to them was William Bryer, Billy had seen enough pictures of him, courtesy of Freddy, to know who he was. The man was fuming, absolutely fuming. There was anger on his face, and he snapped his head up to glare at Freddy and Billy simultaneously. Billy swallowed thickly. 

“Is that them?” William hisses, glancing at the principal. Billy takes a step forwards, trying to shield Freddy from view without looking too suspicious. The principal sighs, nodding his head. “Well go on then.” William continued, and Billy frowns slightly, confused for a moment at the request.

What was he supposed to do? What did he expect of them?

“Boys!” William snapped, glaring at the Bryers, and for the first time, they looked back at them. And suddenly Billy seemed to realise what was going on.

“We are very sorry.” Brett mutters, a guilty and almost fearful look on his face.

“Yeah man, we shouldn’t have done that.” Billy could hear it wasn’t sincere, of course they didn’t mean it, but they had said it nevertheless. Billy glances at Freddy for a moment, but the younger boy seemed as confused as Billy was right now. Neither of them had any idea why this happened.

Until Billy looked at William, who was staring at his sons with a disappointed face.

“Is that all?” William asks, and the principal glances at them for a moment. Billy swallows again, shrugging a bit. The principle nods silently, folding his hands against one another. William huffs, gesturing for his sons to get up, which they did silently. neither of them spoke a word as they walked out.

The Bryers didn’t even _dare_ to meet Billy’s gaze, keeping their heads down. Billy turned to the principal with a confused face the moment they were out of the room, leaving just the principal, Freddy and him.

“Okay, what just happened.” Freddy was the first one to speak, blinking a couple of times. The principal sighs, looking at them. He reached for a stack of papers, sliding it across the desk for them to grasp. Billy walked over to the desk first, picking it up and letting his eyes roam over the pages.

He quickly realised that it was an article… a draft of an article.

“Your mother came in yesterday after school gave me this.” The principal spoke, and Freddy frowns at that. So _that_ was what his mother was doing when she was late picking them up yesterday. “There are detailed accounts from numerous students, including your siblings about the way Brett and Burke has been treating them.”

Billy glances up with a surprised look… _Rosa didn’t_ … But he stared back at the article, numerous quotes, complaints, injuries and even affirmation of the school nurse about what had happened. Even _he_ was in there, and how they had hurt him last Friday. Pictures were included, showing off the injuries.

He gently touched his face at the sight of how he had looked back then, as if he wanted to check if the bruises were still healing on his face. Of course they were still there, and he winced at the slight pain. Still, it was manageable partially due to the ibuprofen he had taken in the morning.

“Your mother threatened to put it online if we didn’t punish Brett and Burke, which for the record, we would have done without this evidence.” Billy tries to push down the urge to scoff, glancing at the last part of the article, ‘ _school allowed it to happen_ ’. It was clear that they were just covering up.

They were prioritising money over their well-being.

“William Bryer was understandably appalled by their behaviour.” _Of course he was_ Billy thought grimly. “He has promised to talk to his sons after school, and ensured that Brett and Burke will not be bothering you, or anyone else, anymore. As well as sincere apologies.” _Sincere my ass._

Billy glances at Freddy, but it seemed as he had the exact same thought. The older boy shook his head, there was no use in pointing that out right now.

“I do not expect any more trouble from them, but if it happens again, come to me first.” The principal says, holding up his hand for Billy to give back the papers. “For now I will keep this in my possession, we do not need to resort to extremes immediately.” This time Freddy did snort, but the principal too seemed too aware of the situation to comment.

“Is that all?” Billy asks, and the principal nods curtly.

“Yes, you can go, your teachers have been notified that you are a little later. Have a nice day.” With that, the boys exited the principal’s office.

“Holy shit, that was such a weak act.” Freddy muttered the moment they were in the hallway, snickering. “Our sincere apologies, no bully tolerance, bla bla.” Freddy mocked, and Billy snickered.

“I mean William is giving the school a lot of money, however will they buy more expensive things to benefit themselves?” Billy shot back, and Freddy laughs light-heartedly, shoving at Billy, who just smiled back at him and walked over to their first class.

It was during second period that both Billy and Freddy got a message from Rosa.

‘ _I have a copy of that article, don’t worry :)’_

_‘Love you both’._

Billy smiled at the message, typing a quick message back before focusing on the class in front of him. For the rest of the day, Brett and Burke avoided both Billy and Freddy like a plague, almost too afraid to even be seen in the same room as them. Not that Billy actually minded their behaviour.

As long as they would leave them alone.

Freddy had been bullied for way too long by them, and he didn’t deserve that. Billy wanted to change as well, do better, make Rosa and Victor proud, make his family proud. And he couldn’t do that with bullies picking on him, but most importantly, when the bullies were picking on his younger brother.

He smiled silently as he walked outside of the school with his siblings at his side, Darla walking besides him and pressing close as a way to centre him. He allowed her to do so, wrapping a loose arm around her to pull her closer. Darla smiles brightly at the gesture, letting out a laugh.

The principal didn’t care about him, or Freddy. He just cared about his own career, the money he got from William Bryers, so he could use it to fund his own needs, boost his own career whilst spending relatively very little on the actual school. The principal, the staff, they didn’t care.

They let Freddy be bullied for so long, and they never did anything about it.

It was all about money, and the fame, and so did William Bryers. It was just about fame and money for him, and he didn’t give a shit about his sons beating up vulnerable students, hurting them and belittling them on a regular basis. All he cared about was his sons hurting his good image by doing so.

Not like Billy cared, it was enough that they’d back off...

Billy glances up as they walk onto the street, and Freddy poked his side to catch his attention. For a moment he was a little confused what Freddy _wanted_ him to see. There were students walking all around him but nothing special, until he glanced up at the bright yellow bus.

A chuckle escaped his lips at the sight.

… And seeing the Bryers being forced to take the bus was a good revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done! My first Shazam multi-chaptered story. This has been such a rollercoaster, and just want to say thank you to everyone who read, commented, left kudos etc! Definitely more Shazam stories to come in the near future!


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